Why Denzel Washington Quit & Then Rejoined One Of His Best Action Thrillers

Movies Action & Adventure Movies

There are few director/actor combinations quite as good as Tony Scott and Denzel Washington. The duo made five movies together ranging from "The Taking of Pelham 123" remake to the downright excellent "Crimson Tide," which marked their first collaboration. Their final film together came in 2010 in the form of "Unstoppable," which is not only one of the actor's best thrillers, but also Scott's final film. It now feels like a gift, but Washington almost backed out of the project entirely.

For context, Washington was at the height of his powers at this time. The actor finally won a Best Actor Oscar in 2001 for his role in "Training Day" (he had previously won Best Supporting Actor for "Glory"), which led to a string of solid hits throughout the early 2000s, culminating in 2007s "American Gangster," which recently found new life on Netflix and remains his biggest earner at the box office to date. So, when it came time for "Unstoppable" to come together behind the scenes, it made sense for Scott to reunite with Washington once again. The only problem? The movie's rather large budget.

The film was set up at Fox and Washington was due to join the cast alongside Chris Pine, who was emerging as a star after 2009's "Star Trek." In summer 2009, Washington departed "Unstoppable" due to salary negotiation issues. The problem, per a July 2009 report from Variety, was that Fox had concerns over the budget and wanted to get it closer to $90 million. To do that, they asked Scott and Washington to reduce their upfront fees. They wanted the actor to shave $4 million off of his salary. That led to Washington walking away from the project, at least initially.

Several weeks later, however, the two sides came back to the table and managed to get a deal together. It's unclear what Washington's final pay was but the Los Angeles Times reported in August 2009 that it represented "a sizable pay cut." The actor had entered the rare $20 million payday club, which is what he was commanding for a big studio movie at the time. But times were changing.

Denzel Washington and Tony Scott had one last ride with Unstoppable

Washington crushed the role of veteran train engineer Frank, who is tutoring his replacement Will (Pine) on a fateful day. A massive unmanned locomotive loaded with toxic cargo is headed towards a populated area. Aboard another train in the runaway's path, Frank and Will have to team up to try and stop the train before a disaster occurs. It was based on real events, with a script by Mark Bomback ("Live Free or Die Hard").

"Unstoppable" is the kind of big-budget thriller that Hollywood doesn't make all that often anymore: one that isn't based on pre-existing IP or doesn't have superheroes. It's the kind of thing Tony Scott excelled at before his untimely passing in 2012. Audience tastes were changing around this time. To that end, "Unstoppable" topped out with just $167 million worldwide, which wasn't nearly enough to make the costly film profitable for Fox. Mind you, that was with reworked deals for Scott and Washington.

In the 2010's, Netflix began truly dominating the landscape, with streaming quickly becoming the future for Hollywood. At the same time, superhero movies and big franchises were becoming more dominant than ever, changing what audiences were paying money to see. In the modern era when Netflix is shelling out hundreds of millions for two "Knives Out" sequels that hardly play in theaters at all, it's tough to imagine this type of movie being made outside of the streaming realm.

For that reason, "Unstoppable" feels like a relic of a bygone era, and more special than it did at the time. It's Washington doing what he does best with a master craftsman behind the camera. It's not a Best Picture Oscar caliber movie, nor is it part of a larger franchise. It's just thrilling and wildly entertaining on its own terms. For that reason, it retroactively feels like a blessing that Washington came to terms on a deal to make this movie happen.

"Unstoppable" is currently available on VOD, or you can pick up a Blu-ray/DVD copy via Amazon.