The Equalizer 3 Passes $100 Million At The Box Office, Denzel Washington Still Unstoppable

The fall movie season is off to a slightly better start than last year, as "The Nun II" scared up a big opening weekend, easily topping the charts. That means Denzel Washington's "The Equalizer 3" had to settle for second place in the battle of the sequels at the box office. Even so, the actor's third go-around as Robert McCall still crossed a new milestone by passing $100 million globally.

Director Antoine Fuqua's "Equalizer 3" earned $12.1 million domestically in its second weekend at the box office, per The Numbers. Unfortunately, that means the sequel dropped a steep 65% in its second frame when compared to its $34.6 million debut last weekend. That said, the film also had the Monday Labor Day holiday under its belt, which might have made it even more front-loaded than it might otherwise have been. So if we were dealing with a standard, three-day first weekend and the movie had a 65% drop, it would be a bit more concerning.

Washington's latest has now earned $61.7 million domestically, combined with $45.8 million internationally, for a grand total of $107.5 million worldwide. The bad news is 2014's "The Equalizer" only dropped 45.1% in its second weekend before reaching a $192.9 million global finish. However, the good news is that "The Equalizer 2" also suffered a big 61.1% drop in its second weekend, but the sequel still finished with $190.3 million worldwide. So the third installment is, more or less, on track to finish just a bit below the first two. That's not bad, considering Sony kept the budget reasonable at $70 million.

The fact that three of these movies, spanning nearly a decade, have managed to have such consistent performance theatrically is nothing shy of remarkable. Credit to Fuqua for turning in a crowd-pleasing movie each time he stepped up to bat. But the bigger thing here is that Washington remains someone that moviegoers truly seem to trust. His name attached to a project implies a certain quality.

While he's not the most bankable star by some measures, he can still turn nothing into something. This is the only franchise in his storied career, he doesn't have big superhero movies to inflate his grosses, and he has the ability to turn something like "Flight" ($160 million box office/$31 million budget) into both a big financial winner and an awards season favorite. That's the power of Denzel Washington.

In "The Equalizer 3," Robert McCall (Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he's done in the past after giving up his life as an assassin. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows to protect his friends, he must take on the mafia. The cast also includes David Denman ("The Office") and Dakota Fanning, making this a "Man on Fire" reunion for her and Washington.

"The Equalizer 3" is in theaters now.