Although the big screen version of The Equalizer may not have arrived with a ton of fanfare last year, it was one of Denzel Washington’s most successful movies, pulling in $192 million worldwide. That may not sound like much compared to today’s comic book movies and other blockbusters, but for an R-rated movie sold essentially on the star power of one man, that’s pretty impressive. A sequel is already in development at Sony, but meanwhile New Line Cinema is in the process of setting up a crime movie franchise of their own based around another strong African-American protagonist. They have reportedly acquired the rights to the ’70s blaxploitation icon John Shaft and they are developing a brand new Shaft movie. Hit the jump for more details.

According to The Wrap, New Line Cinema is developing a Shaft reboot with producer John Davis of Davis Entertainment. Davis is best known for producing Predator, but in recent years he has also worked on I, Robot, Chronicle, and Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film. No word yet on who might step into the shoes of Richard Roundtree, who played the private eye in the original 1971 film and its two sequels plus a short-lived TV series.

The franchise was already rebooted once before in 2000 with Samuel L. Jackson playing Shaft’s nephew in a film directed by John Singleton. The movie did pretty well at the time pulling in $70 million domestically but a sequel was never produced. Either way, with the right star and director a new Shaft film could could be a lot of fun. Who would you like to see play the new John Shaft?