Denzel Washington romance with younger woman removed from ‘The Equalizer 3’

nme.com:

The Equaliser 3, but it was scaled back after audiences reacted badly to it in preview screenings.The film, Washington’s final appearance as McCall, sees the retired intelligence officer living in a small Italian town where the friendly residents are being terrorised by local Mafioso.

One of the residents is waitress Aminah, played by Gaia Scodellaro. McCall and Aminah – who is significantly younger than McCall – grow close, discussing the locals’ predicament at her café and while she shows him around the picturesque dockyard during an evening stroll.

In the end, nothing comes of their time together and they stay good friends – but in an earlier version of the movie, says director Antoine Fuqua, their love blossomed into a full-blown affair.“There was more [to Robert and Aminah’s relationship in the script],” Fuqua told NME, “but The audience didn’t want to see Robert McCall in love… We did a test screening and they really felt like it was a betrayal of the wife, you know, so we decided to pull that back.”In the two previous films, McCall’s late wife forms a key part of his backstory.

McCall was a highly decorated government agent when they met and fell in love. In order to start a new life and be with her, he faked his death in a car bomb.