After years of being pushed back, two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington and acclaimed director Antoine Fuqua are moving ahead with their highly anticipated feature, based on the life of the Carthaginian Warrior Hannibal. The filming of the yet-untitled Netflix historical epic will take place in Rome, Italy, between June 29 and October 9 this year. John Logan wrote the script.
The story focuses on the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.). The war began in 218 BC when Hannibal attacked a Roman ally in Spain. He then invaded Italy after crossing the Alps with North African war elephants, aiming to conquer Rome.
Washington and Fuqua go way back to the Oscar-winning drama ‘Training Day.’ After that, they did the ‘Equalizer’ trilogy (one more is reportedly in development) and ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ The movie we are talking about will thus be their sixth venture together. Washington’s latest performance was as music mogul David King in Spike Lee’s crime thriller ‘Highest 2 Lowest.’ Hannibal won’t be Washington’s first attempt at a historical figure, as he played the villainous Macrinus, based on Roman Emperor Marcus Opellius Macrinus, in Ridley Scott’s historical drama ‘Gladiator II.’ Other upcoming movies where we will see Washington are the Netflix heist drama ‘Here Comes the Flood,’ the MCU’s ‘Black Panther 3,’ and ‘Equalizer 4,’ though we have yet to learn whether Fuqua will direct.
Fuqua’s latest outing as a director was ‘The Equalizer 3,’ featuring Washington as fan-favorite character Robert McCall, which came out in 2023. Since then, he has immersed himself in ‘Michael,’ the most anticipated movie of 2026, based on the life of King of Pop Michael Jackson. The epic drama stars Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew, as the titular pop icon. It will be released on April 24, 2026.
Other historical/period movies shot in Rome include ‘The Return,’ ‘Ben-Hur,’ and ‘House of Gucci.’
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