32-426: The Equalizer is an American vigilante action thriller multimedia franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. It originated with a CBS television series from 1985 to 1989 starring Edward Woodward . The concept was thereafter rebooted twice with a trilogy of movies ( The Equalizer in 2014, The Equalizer 2 in 2018, and The Equalizer 3 in 2023) starring Denzel Washington and
64-1095: A California -born teacher, and Arnold Leo III, an editor at Grove Press , fisherman, and former spokesman for the East Hampton Baymen's Association. She has an older brother, Erik Leo. Her paternal aunt is art historian Christine Leo Roussel . Leo's parents divorced, and her mother moved them to Red Clover Commune, in Putney, Vermont . Leo began performing as a child with the Bread and Puppet Theater Company. She attended Bellows Falls High School in Bellows Falls, Vermont , and studied acting at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London and SUNY Purchase , but did not graduate, choosing to leave school and move to New York City to begin auditioning for acting jobs. Leo spent summers at her father's house in Springs,
96-569: A 1985 episode of the original series . Leo appeared on the Fox series Wayward Pines as Nurse Pam. In 1987, Leo had a son with actor John Heard , whom she dated from 1986 to 1988, while living in Manhattan. Leo then moved to Stone Ridge, New York , where a 200-year-old farmhouse was her permanent residence for three decades, though she often traveled and lived elsewhere temporarily for work. In 2019, she moved back to Manhattan. She moved out of
128-608: A Comedy Series. Leo appeared in the action-thriller Olympus Has Fallen as Ruth McMillan, the Secretary of Defense who was held hostage by terrorists in the White House; and Oblivion as the main antagonist Sally. She reprised her role in the Olympus sequel London Has Fallen . Leo appeared in supporting roles in the thriller films Prisoners , The Equalizer , and The Equalizer 2 , having previously appeared in
160-458: A Miniseries or a Movie . Her next projects include the satirical horror film Red State , the independent comedy Predisposed with Jesse Eisenberg currently in pre-production and the crime thriller The Dead Circus based on the novel by John Kaye with Michael C. Hall and James Marsden currently in development. She guest-starred in an episode of the hit FX comedy Louie , which garnered her an Emmy win for Outstanding Guest Actress in
192-583: A Primetime Emmy Award for her guest role on the television series Louie . She starred in the 2015 Fox event series Wayward Pines as Nurse Pam. She then starred in the 2017 Netflix film The Most Hated Woman in America as American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair . Leo was born in Manhattan and grew up on the Lower East Side . She is the daughter of Margaret ( née Chessington),
224-821: A gambling husband, and still maintain rules and goals around the house. This was a heroic woman." Following Frozen River , Leo continued to appear in several independent films, and had a minor role in the 2008 film Righteous Kill , with Al Pacino and her Hide and Seek co-star, Robert De Niro . Leo appeared in a series of films throughout 2009, including According to Greta , the title character in Stephanie's Image , True Adolescents , and Veronika Decides to Die . In 2010, Leo received fame for her role in David O. Russell 's The Fighter . Rick Bentley of The Charlotte Observer said: "Both actors ( Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale ) are very good, but they get blown off
256-401: A net production budget of $ 55 million. On February 24, 2014, seven months before the release of The Equalizer , Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists announced they were planning a sequel , with Richard Wenk penning the script again. In early October 2014, Antoine Fuqua stated that sequel to the film would be made only if audiences and Denzel Washington wanted it. He said he
288-637: A re-imagined 2021 television series , also on CBS, starring Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall. Original co-creator Michael Sloan has written a series of novels featuring Robert McCall, with the first volume published in 2014. The franchise centers on a retired intelligence agent with a mysterious past who uses the skills from their former career to exact justice on behalf of innocent people who find themselves in dangerous circumstances while sometimes also dealing with people from their past in covert operations who want to pull them back in or settle old scores. The original show ran for four seasons of 22 episodes each. It
320-500: A reboot was in development with Queen Latifah in the lead role as Robyn McCall. Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller were to serve as showrunners with Latifah herself as an executive producer. On January 27, 2020, CBS ordered a pilot for the new version. The series was among the 14 pilots ordered by CBS in February 2020 and was fast tracked to series the following March, as they were unable to film their pilots where Universal Television
352-535: A season-one episode of the original Equalizer television series titled "The Defector", in which she portrayed the daughter of a former Soviet agent, who enlists McCall's help to defect to the United States. Marton Csokas was cast to play the villain on May 17. The Equalizer grossed $ 101.5 million in North America and $ 90.8 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $ 192.3 million, against
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#1732787892711384-561: A section of East Hampton, New York . Leo's acting debut came in 1984, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy at the 12th Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Ingenue/Woman in a Drama Series for All My Children . Following this, Leo appeared in several films, including Streetwalkin' , A Time of Destiny , Last Summer in the Hamptons , and Venice/Venice . She also had several appearances on television, most notably her role as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on Homicide: Life on
416-512: Is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award , a Primetime Emmy Award , a Golden Globe Award , a Screen Actors Guild Award , and two Critics' Choice Awards . After appearing on several television shows and films in the 1980s, Leo became a regular on the television shows All My Children , for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award , and The Young Riders . Her breakthrough role came in 1993 as detective and later sergeant Kay Howard on
448-658: Is simply entitled The Equalizer published in 2014, followed by Killed in Action: An Equalizer Novel , which was released in 2018. The novels are a modern reimagining of the original series and focus on McCall leaving the Company and eventually becoming a private investigator in New York. It also features a number of original recurring characters from the television series, such as Mickey Kostmayer, Control, and Scott McCall. A third novel, Equalizer: Requiem
480-733: The Golden Globe , Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association , New York Film Critics Circle , Screen Actors Guild , and culminating in her winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress . While accepting her Oscar, Leo said: "When I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so fucking easy!" She apologized afterwards for using profanity, admitting that it was "a very inappropriate place to use that particular word ... those words, I apologize to anyone that they offend". Prior to her win, Leo had created some controversy by attempting to self-promote her Oscar campaign, rather than rely on
512-523: The Screen Actors Guild Awards , Broadcast Film Critics Association , and Academy Awards . Critic Roger Ebert backed her for a win, stating: "Best Actress: Melissa Leo. What a complete performance, evoking a woman's life in a time of economic hardship. The most timely of films, but that isn't reason enough. I was struck by how intensely determined she was to make the payments, support her two children, carry on after her abandonment by
544-415: The 1970s with "touchstones" like Death Wish and Dirty Harry , both of which received multiple sequels. The 1974 film Death Wish has been described as officially starting the genre, causing many cheap imitations and knockoffs such as Vigilante and Vigilante Force , with the most financially successful being 1980's The Exterminator . The Los Angeles Times reported, "Vigilante vengeance
576-468: The 2001 Oscar-winning film Training Day . Chloë Grace Moretz was announced as a co-star on May 10, 2013; Anna Kendrick , Kelly Macdonald , and Nina Dobrev were also considered. On May 31, 2013, Melissa Leo was cast in the film. Leo previously worked with Washington in the 2012 film Flight , and with Fuqua in Olympus Has Fallen (2013). Coincidentally, Leo actually guest-starred in
608-853: The Phoenix Film Critics Society in 2003 and the runner-up for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress. Leo appeared in supporting roles throughout the 2000s including the film Hide and Seek , the independent film American Gun , both in 2005, and a minor role in the comedy Mr. Woodcock . In 2006, she won the Bronze Wrangler at the Western Heritage Awards for Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada shared with Tommy Lee Jones who also produced
640-563: The Street until 1997. Three years later she reprised her role in the television film Homicide: The Movie . After a brief hiatus from acting, Leo's breakthrough came three years later in the Alejandro González Iñárritu film, 21 Grams released to critical acclaim. Leo appeared in a supporting role alongside Sean Penn , Naomi Watts , Benicio del Toro , and Clea DuVall . Leo shared a Best Ensemble Acting award from
672-613: The United States and Canada, and $ 88.3 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $ 190.4 million, against a production budget of $ 62 million. A third film with Washington and director Antoine Fuqua returning, was filmed in October 2022, on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. The film was released on September 1, 2023. A series of novels featuring Robert McCall has been written by the original co-creator Michael Sloan. The first
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#1732787892711704-796: The film. In 2008, she won the Maverick Actor Award and also the Best Actress award at the Method Fest for Lullaby (2008). That same year, Leo earned critical praise for her performance in the film Frozen River , winning several awards, including the Best Actress award from the Independent Spirit Awards , the Spotlight award from the National Board of Review , and Best Actress nominations from
736-574: The marketing department of the studio. Leo personally bought ad space in Hollywood trade publications, which was initially thought might backfire in a similar manner to previous Oscar contenders Chill Wills and Margaret Avery . Following her Oscar win, Leo appeared in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce alongside Kate Winslet , Evan Rachel Wood and Guy Pearce . Her performance garnered an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in
768-507: The objections of the crew due to the vastly different tones of the two shows. Ultimately, the crossover did not happen, and the episode was rewritten as "Beyond Control". The show's theme music was created by composer/performer Stewart Copeland , his first effort at theme music composition in what would become a lengthy career in that field. The track is called "Busy Equalizing". An extended version appears on his album The Equalizer and Other Cliff Hangers . In November 2019, CBS announced that
800-402: The screen by Melissa Leo, who plays their mother, Alice Ward. Leo's Oscar-worthy portrayal of Alice as a master manipulator goes beyond acting to a total transformation." Roger Ebert referred to it as a "teeth-gratingly brilliant performance." Leo and several of the film's actors including her co-star Amy Adams and Bale were nominated. For her performance Leo received several awards, including
832-448: The television series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1997). Leo received critical acclaim for her performance as Ray Eddy in the 2008 film Frozen River , earning her several nominations and awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress . In 2010, Leo won several awards for her performance as Alice Eklund-Ward in the film The Fighter , including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress . In 2013, she won
864-537: Was an interesting character, and that the sequel could have more of an international flavor. On April 22, 2015, Sony officially announced a sequel, with Washington returning to his role as vigilante Robert McCall. Fuqua's returning was not yet confirmed. In September 2016, producer Todd Black revealed that the script of the film was complete, and that Fuqua would return to direct, with shooting set to begin in September 2017. The Equalizer 2 grossed $ 102.1 million in
896-483: Was initially renewed for a fifth season (causing Keith Szarabajka to turn down a role on Midnight Caller ). The show was later canceled, though, due to a row between CBS and Universal Studios over the renewal of Murder, She Wrote . In The Story of The Equalizer , created for the DVD box set, executive producer Coleman Luck also stated that Universal requested a script for a crossover episode with Magnum, P.I. despite
928-583: Was released in 2020. Vigilante film The vigilante film is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists engage in vigilante behavior, taking the law into their own hands. Vigilante films are usually revenge films in which the legal system fails protagonists, leading them to become vigilantes. The vigilante film has in recent years often crossed over with the superhero genre, due to character origin stories frequently involving an injustice having been committed against them. In United States cinema, vigilante films gained prominence during
960-455: Was reportedly looking to bring The Equalizer to the big screen and to be directed by Paul Haggis , with Crowe attached to play Robert McCall. In December 2011, Denzel Washington was announced to star in the title role of the film version, to be financed by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists . Director Antoine Fuqua came on board to direct on March 21, 2013, reuniting him with Washington after their successful collaboration on
992-603: Was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic . On May 8, 2020, CBS picked up the series and they added Chris Noth as William Bishop, a quirky ex-CIA director, who is the opposite of Latifah. It premiered on February 7, 2021, after Super Bowl LV . In March 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 10, 2021. In May 2022, the series was renewed for its third and fourth seasons. The third season premiered on October 2, 2022. The fourth season finale aired on May 19, 2024. In June 2010, Russell Crowe
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1024-531: Was the cinematic theme of the [1970s], flourishing in the more respectable precincts of the new American cinema even as it fueled numerous exploitation flicks," referring to Taxi Driver as a respectable example of the genre. It reported in 2009 that such films were making a comeback after "the comparatively prosperous and peaceable 1990s", with examples like Walking Tall (2004), Death Sentence (2007) and Law Abiding Citizen (2009) . Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960)
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