The Equalizer is an American vigilante action thriller multimedia franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim.

Original co-creator Michael Sloan has written a series of novels featuring Robert McCall, with the first volume published in 2014.

[1] 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.

[5] On May 8, 2020, CBS picked up the series[6] and they added Chris Noth as William Bishop, a quirky ex-CIA director, who is the opposite of Latifah.

[11][12] 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.

[11][13] Director Antoine Fuqua came on board to direct on March 21, 2013, reuniting him with Washington after their successful collaboration on the 2001 Oscar-winning film Training Day.

[16] Coincidentally, Leo actually guest-starred in 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.

[18] 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.

[27] 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.