An incredibly underrated Denzel Washington movie is being revived with a new prequel starring John Boyega.
Some of Washington’s greatest films have been unfairly maligned by critics. Man on Fire, the actor’s tear-jerking, iconic collaboration with Tony Scott, was torn apart by reviewers in 2004, with its Rotten Tomatoes score sitting at an unjust 39%.
John Q, in which the actor holds a hospital hostage to get his son a life-saving heart transplant, has an even lower score of 25%. Fallen, a sensationally creepy, under-seen psychological thriller from 1998, has also been slapped with the “rotten” label.
In 2014, mixed reviews couldn’t stop an A-grade Washington banger from flopping – and we’re returning to its world in a new prequel.
Denzel Washington’s The Book of Eli is getting a prequel
A prequel to The Book of Eli is officially in the works, with John Boyega expected to play a younger version of Washington’s badass character.
The original film follows Washington’s Eli as he makes a treacherous cross-country trip across a nuclear-blasted America, hoping to deliver a mysterious book that may hold the answer to humanity’s salvation.
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“Details about the TV series are sketchy, but I hear it is set 30 years prior to the events in the film, which would put it around the time of the nuclear event or its immediate aftermath,” Deadline wrote.
Gary Whittam, the movie’s writer, is expected to serve as the show’s lead creative, with the Hughes Brothers directors returning as executive producers. The package will be taken out to “select premium buyers” in due course, the outlet noted, but it’s unclear where it’ll end up.
“Can’t wait for this one… I think that was one of Denzel’s most underrated movies, for sure,” one user reacted to the news. “Y’all I’m losing my mind. This is so epic I don’t even have the words. John Boyega has been on an absolute run post-Star Wars and when you man are all caught up, I’d love to have that conversation,” another wrote.
Others are surprised his son, John David Washington, hasn’t taken on the role. “As much as I like John Boyega, I would be okay with nepotism casting and would love to see Denzel’s son John David play the younger character. It worked for Kurt and Wyatt Russel in the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series,” one wrote.
“John David Washington would be the perfect cast for a Book of Eli prequel. He’s been on point with the sci-fi genre lately,” another wrote.