‘The Equalizer’: How reliable a draw is Denzel Washington?

As “The Equalizer” proved once again this week with a strong $35-million opening, Denzel Washington is one of the most reliable stars in Hollywood. But when it comes to box office, some of his movies are more reliable than others.

Since turning into a full-fledged A-lister in, more or less, 2000, with the $115-million-grossing “Remember the Titans,” Washington has had 15 movies open wide. All but one of them debuted to at least $20 million (“Out of Time” fell short), and none except one opened above $40 million (“American Gangster” debuted to $44 million). Even for an actor who generally takes on a certain kind of action-thriller (“Titans” and “Flight” are the only of the group that at least loosely fit the bill) that’s a remarkable record of consistency, especially in today’s Hollywood. Tom Cruise, for instance, frequently takes on similar roles too, and his openings have swung from $16 million to $64 million over the last decade.

There’s a particular kind of convergence that creates a Denzel Washington. The actor is so good at embodying a certain kind of hero that studios are willing to make movies based solely on that embodiment, and we just want to see him in that embodiment. So it just keeps happening again and again -- so much so that he can be nearly 60 and reaching the same audience he was reaching when he was barely 40.

But it’s also worth noting that, while compared to the wild swings of studio tentpoles, the $20 million to $40 million zone is pretty even-keeled, it’s not exactly a microscopic range. So what makes some releases dip to that low end and others climb higher? Each film has its own ecology and is influenced by a complicated series of factors, of course. But here are some observations worth making. [Note: For ease’s sake, this analysis is done without inflation adjustments; taking them into account, it would bump up slightly if not significantly some of the earlier totals -- a $20-million opening in 2004, say, would amount to $25 million today.]

-- Though he enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the late Tony Scott, the director hadn’t necessarily been great for Washington’s box office prospects. Some of the lowest of the actor’s openings over this period — “Man on Fire,” “Déjà vu,” “The Taking of Pelham 123” — were team-ups with Scott. The notable exception was “Unstoppable” — it had a low opening too ($23 million) but held on nicely in the weeks that followed and got all the way to $82 million.

“Equalizer” director Antoine Fuqua has been a stronger collaborator. Though “Training Day’s” opening was modest (also $23 million), it did a nice multiple up to $77 million and got Washington that Oscar, which tends to make every opening look better in retrospect anyway.

-- The remake trend has been a mixed bag for Hollywood, and it’s been mixed for Washington. The $35 million of this weekend comes via a remake, but so do some of his low openers (“Pelham” and “The Manchurian Candidate”). In contrast, some of his biggest successes — notably “Safe House” and “American Gangster” — were originals, in the first case such an original it was based on a spec script that had been written and sold just a few years before.

-- Washington seems to do best out of the summer, when the commercial audience isn’t distracted with effects spectacles and the relentless campaigns that accompany them. His June-August releases have consistently come in at the low end of his range (the lowest of these, ”Pelham” and “Manchurian,” barely made it to $20 million), and the four movies that have approached or topped $35 million — “Equalizer,” “Gangster,” “Safe House” and “The Book of Eli” — have all come out in the fall-winter months.

-- Despite a reputation as one of the few leading men who can carry a movie at the box office, Washington needs support too. His movies tend to open stronger when he’s playing opposite a big actor who can add to the star power and shoulder some of the screen burden. Some of his biggest successes -- “Gangster,” “Safe House” and “Inside Man” — all were two-handers with another big male name. We like Washington in every scene, but we like even more when another big star comes into the scene or on to the marquee.

-- The whole genre/comfort-zone question is a strange one. We pundits like to look at a character piece like “Flight” and say an actor like Washington should do more of them. It turns out he should, and not just from an actor-y or awards standpoint. “Flight” notched a $25-million opening despite opening on 30-40% fewer screens than many of his wide openers; the per-screen average on opening weekend was one of the best of his career. But the fact is he may not want to keep making those movies, and he may not need to — “Equalizer” had some very solid per-screens too, and it has a shot of becoming his third $100-million-grosser in the last seven years, all in his go-to genre. The biggest factor in achieving reliability may be that so few people seem to be doing it anymore.