An we all thought it was too good to ever be a reality. Early last year we reported that a big screen version of cult E-wa Woo-wa TV series The Equalizer had been greenlit. Well a few things have to happen in between that stage and it actually happening, one of the most important being for someone to sit down and write the thing. Good news for fans today then, and someone has finally been selected for the job. Twelve months after Brit director Paul McGuigan (**Lucky Number **Slevin and the excellent **Gangster Number **One) was selected to direct the film, he now knows that he will be working from a script by Terrill Lee Lankford – who has no major credits to his name, but did, under the pseudonym B.J. Nestles, write Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, and author Michael Connelly.
If that last name rings a bell, it’s probably because you’ve read some of his most famous work, the Harry Bosch crime novels. He also wrote the book on which Clint Eastwood’s God-awful thriller Blood Work is based, but as he didn’t write the screenplay, let’s not blame him for that one. He’s also got another script in development, currently titled The Lincoln Lawyer.
No idea what we’re on about? Recap: The TV show centred around former spy Robert McCall (Woo-wa), who ran a private agency helping people being unfairly treated to even up the odds, all very quiet and on the side, like.
In the press release, Connelly admitted that “times have certainly changed since the days of the television show… we plan to build a career that is of these times, but also keep the heart and soul of the show intact.” They better – those Equalizer fans are a pretty hardcore bunch; get this wrong, and they could be being pelted with rich tea biscuits for the rest of their careers.