Denzel Washington Scene In Training Day Led To Record-Low Test Screening Scores

Antoine Fuqua’s 2001 cop drama “Training Day” is notable for its hellish tone, gritty photography, and amazing central performance from the incomparable Denzel Washington. Indeed, “Training Day” won Washington his second acting Academy Award for playing LAPD Detective Alonzo Harris, the most horrible and corrupt cop on the force. Ethan Hawke plays Jake Hoyt, the cop assigned to learn from Alonzo on the day before his promotion. Hoyt will get a disturbing crash course in how deeply the violence and corruption of the LAPD really runs. 

Although Alonzo is a terrible person, he’s an appealing villain, and many viewers came to love his gnashing and displays of brazen power. Alonzo’s line “King Kong ain’t got nothing on me,” written by David Ayer, was briefly a part of the oft-repeated pop canon. “Training Day” was Fuqua’s third feature as a director (after “The Replacement Killers” and “Bait”), but it was the first that put him on the map; he was previously known for music videos. Fuqua would go on to direct the three “Equalizer” movies, as well as many other middling Hollywood thrillers like “Tears of the Sun,” “King Arthur,” “Infinite,” “Olympus Has Fallen,” and “Brooklyn’s Finest.” 

Of all those films, it seems, “Training Day” actually tested the most poorly. Before a film’s release, and often before the film is wholly complete, studios will show test screenings to random audience members, trying to gauge if a better film can be salvaged in accordance with the audience’s perceived tastes. It seems that test audiences hated “Training Day.” According to Fuqua, speaking to Collider, audiences turned on his film because he had the temerity to kill Denzel Washington at the end. Washington was too deeply beloved an actor to die, even if he was playing a supervillain.

Fuqua’s film is bleak and violent, so the death of Alonzo Harris should have felt more cathartic than upsetting. Regardless, audiences hated the original cat of the film. Fuqua said to Collider: 

“‘Training Day’ didn’t score high in the test screening because I killed Denzel. People were pissed. I almost got ran out of the theater on that one. That was probably the lowest test screening.”

However test audiences may have felt, “Training Day” was widely embraced by the public once it hit theaters. It netted over $104 million at the box office and was positively received by most critics (the film has a 74% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes). It also started a lucrative working relationship between Fuqua and Washington that would lead the pair to make an additional four films together. 

“Training Day” also kicked off the career of screenwriter David Ayer, who had only one credit, “U-571,” before “Training Day.” After “Training Day,” and the success of “The Fast and the Furious,” Ayer became a Hollywood presence, writing and/or directing gritty crime movies like “Harsh Times,” “End of Watch,” and “Fury.” Ayer also moved into blockbusters with “Suicide Squad” and “Bright.” His most recent film was the absurd actioner “The Beekeeper” with Jason Statham. Ayer once noted that he had to rewrite the ending of “Training Day” to juice up its action. 

It should also be noted that “Training Day” eventually became a TV series, although it didn’t last too long. The Alonzo character was played by Bill Paxton, and he sadly passed away during production. 

So perhaps killing Alonzo Harris was a lucrative choice, despite what the test audiences thought. Hollywood relies on test audience scores, but like any art, there’s no hard-and-fast track to success; if there was, every film would be successful. Instead, Fuqua followed his gut and put out the movie he wanted, and mass audiences ate it up.