The Equalizer 3 director has revealed that he considered de-aging Denzel Washington in the action franchise.
The 68-year-old has starred as Robert McCall in the blockbusters since the original flick was released in 2014, with the third outing hitting the big screen on September 1 in the US.
Discussing the rise in technology over the last few years, with Harrison Ford famously being de-aged for some scenes in the recent Indiana Jones sequel, filmmaker Antoine Fuqua explained that he contemplated using the technique in his own work.
‘I definitely thought about it a lot,’ he said in a new interview. ‘Especially now with the new technology and the AI and all of that stuff… Is there a story to be told about how [McCall] became this person – the younger version?
‘I’ve had that conversation with Richard Wenk [Equalizer writer] quite a bit.’
‘I haven’t talked to Denzel about that yet,’ he added to NME. ‘It’s all so fresh and new. I’m still watching [the technology]. I’ve watched Harrison Ford’s film and I know there’s other movies coming out.
The Equalizer 3 is finally hitting the big screen on September 1 (Picture: Sony Pictures)
‘I’m hearing the technology is getting better and better and better. So I’m watching it to see where it goes.’
The use of de-aging technology has seen a rise recently, with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci getting the treatment in Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, the Irishman.
‘The film takes place from 1949 to 2000, and it goes back and forth in time continuously,’ the acclaimed director previously said of the visual changes in a Netflix special, via Wired.com.
Denzel Washington has led the way as Robert McCall (Picture: Sony Pictures)
‘The problem is, by the time I was ready to make the film, Bob De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci can no longer play these characters younger in makeup.’
When presented with the initial technology, he voiced his fears over whether it would work in the way he wanted.
He added: ‘I said, “I don’t know. I can’t have the actors talking to each other with golf balls on their faces. It gets in the way of the actors, and the kind of film this is, they need to play off of each other. If you can find a way to lessen the technical aspects of it, it could work.”’
Could we see a de-aged Denzel on the big screen in future?(Picture: Getty)
Harrison Ford was also made to look younger for parts of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and previously opened up about the finished product.
In a chat with Empire Magazine, he confessed: ‘It’s a little spooky. I don’t think I even want to know how it works, but it works.
‘This is the first time I’ve seen it where I believe it.’
The Equalizer 3 is released in cinemas on September 1.
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