CBS has ordered the pilot for an Equalizer reboot, which will star and be executive produced by Queen Latifah, Deadline reports. Latifah will play a mysterious person who uses her extensive skills to help those in need, similar to the character Robert McCall, which was recently made popular by Denzel Washington in the two Antoine Fuqua-directed Equalizer films.
The Equalizer started off as a TV series on CBS where it aired for four seasons from 1985 to 1989. McCall was played by Edward Woodward. Latifah previously spent three years playing Carlotta Brown on the Fox series Star, which has since been canceled.
The pilot will be written by the reboot's showrunners, Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller. Aside from writing Air Force One, End of Days, and Hollow Man, Marlowe is known for being the executive producer and creator of the syndicated ABC show Castle.
Universal Television, the production company behind the original Equalizer series, has reportedly been interested in the idea of bringing back a re-imagined version of the show, but it was only within the last four to five years that making this happen became a priority. While there have been multiple unsuccessful attempts in the past, and it took longer than they had hoped, the reboot is finally moving in the right direction.
