Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington is returning to theaters across the United States this weekend! Washington’s newest film “The Equalizer 3” began offering preview screenings earlier this week in preparation for its official theatrical debut on Sept. 1.

The film stars Washington as Robert McCall, an ex-Marine and DIA officer. McCall has a unique and dangerous skillset, and is wounded putting those skills to use on a mission in Sicily. While recovering he makes some new friends, but finds out they are under the control of a secretive Italian crime organization. Determined to free them, McCall sets out to uproot the organization no matter the cost.

Reviews have called the film formulaic but still entertaining, and it carries a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 92% of preview audiences agreeing. The film’s action sequences get special praise, as does Washington’s predictably outstanding performance. The movie also stars Dakota Fanning and David Denman.

Check Out the Trailer for ‘The Equalizer 3’

If you were hoping to have an “Equalizer” marathon at home capped off by a screening of the new sequel, unfortunately “The Equalizer 3” is a theatrical exclusive release. If you need to see it right away, the movie theater is the only way to go.

When “The Equalizer 3” does leave movie theaters, it will be available to stream first on Netflix. That’s easy to predict because Netflix signed a Pay-1 deal with Sony in 2021, meaning all Sony movies go to that streamer once they finish their theatrical windows. After Netflix the movie will go to Hulu, as a separate licensing deal stipulates a Disney-owned streamer gets Sony’s movies after they reside on Netflix for 18 months. “The Equalizer 2” is currently available to stream on Hulu, while the first film in the franchise is currently housed on STARZ.

How long will it take for the movie to leave theaters? Partially that depends on its box office, but because Sony doesn’t have a streaming platform of its own to send its movies to, it often prefers to keep movies in theaters and available on transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) platforms longer than the industry-minimum of 45 days. The movie will likely be released to premium video-on-demand (PVOD) services for purchase while it’s still in theaters, then transition to exclusive availability on TVOD marketplaces before heading to Netflix.

For “The Equalizer 3,” that process is most likely to take 70 days. That will send it to streaming on Friday, Nov. 10, the perfect way for audiences to warm up with a hot action movie while the weather outside is getting more and more frigid.