Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington has been cast as Hannibal in Antoine Fuqua’s new Netflix movie.

Coming off the critical and box-office success enjoyed by The Equalizer 3, Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua look set to continue their longtime creative partnership for Netflix in an upcoming historical film.

The film is based on the legendary tactician and leader Hannibal Barca, widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The story is expected to cover the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.

He’s most famous for invading Rome while riding a Northern African war elephant. He and the Carthaginians won key victories against the Romans – occupying the majority of southern Italy for fifteen years. He was eventually defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Zama.

Fuqua and Washington first worked together on the classic crime thriller Training Day, and reunited on The Magnificent, and the three installments of the popular action franchise The Equalizer, whose latest installment was released earlier this year. The film, as well as the two previous ones, was very well received.

Last year, Fuqua teamed up with another streaming platform, Apple TV for the historical drama Emancipation, starring Will Smith. Washington, for his part, had taken a brief break after releasing three films in 2021, The Little Things, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and A Journal for Jordan.

Source: Press Release