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UPDATE: Liam Neeson and Luc Besson have come to a meeting of the minds and they have worked out the scheduling snafu that made him iffy for Taken 2. Neeson’s reps at CAA are now closing the deal for Neeson to reprise what has become a signature role. Production is now being eyed for year end or beginning of 2012. Neeson will stick to his plan to take the rest of the year off, after completing the Clash of the Titans sequel he’s shooting in London. He has been working almost nonstop, wrapping The Grey for Joe Carnahan and Battleship for Peter Berg.
EARLIER EXCLUSIVE: A fascinating drama has been playing out over the past few weeks on Taken 2, the sequel to the surprise global hit film hatched by Luc Besson that reinvigorated Liam Neeson. I’m told Besson has teamed on a script with Robert Mark Kamen, and that he’s in talks with his Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton to direct the sequel. But he has been dealing with a huge problem: Neeson has all but withdrawn from reprising his role as Bryan Mills, the retired government operative who in the 2008 original decimated the Paris underworld to free his kidnapped daughter. The reason isn’t money, but rather scheduling: Besson wants to shoot it this year and Neeson wants to take time off. Continuing without Neeson is hard to imagine, but I’ve heard Besson has gone as far as assembling a list of actors to take his place. That list includes Mickey Rourke, Ralph Fiennes, Ray Winstone, Sean Bean and Jason Isaacs.
I’m told that as of yesterday, things started turning toward a Neeson return, but it’s by no means definite. Besson went back to Neeson, and they are working up a schedule that will allow Neeson to shoot the movie in Istanbul later this year and still give the actor the time he needs. To me, that would be good news because not a lot of sequels come along that make you say, I really want to see more of that. It would also be good news for 20th Century Fox, which is expected to return as distributor. The original grossed $146 million in the U.S., and topped out at around $227 million, and it wasn’t an expensive film to make.
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The man is finally ready to start dealing with some pretty personal shit and you push him back to work. What a bunch of assholes.
Push Liam Neeson? He’s not a Wisconsin teacher who needs the paycheck. If the multi-millionaire actor goes back to work instead of “dealing with some pretty personal shit” then it will be entirely his choice.
you’re an idiot. he’s not saying he won’t return to the franchise – he’s just asking for a little time to deal with the death of his wife after working non-stop. this article is basically stating that Besson and Fox are choosing how much time is enough for Liam to grieve and relax and threatening to take the film away from him (which of course he does not want)… so yes, this is a greedy move to make money sooner, rather than do what’s right by their leading man and wait a bit. This has nothing to do with how rich Liam Neeson is…
How about a little acknowledgement of the fact that Besson revived a stalled career and that the reason he has been able to do work non-stop for the last two years and not take a break to grieve is because Besson cast him in the first place? How about Neeson turns down a couple of the other movies over the last two years in order to be rested and available for the man who gave him a second wind as an action star at his age?
btw – that said, I want to see TAKEN 2 with Neeson. I think he totally and utterly nailed it in the first one.
Very good point on that. The box office money will be there whether they make the film now or later. Looks like someone is being very greedy here and it ain’t Liam.
Without Liam Neeson, I predict “Taken 2: Direct to Video.” I’d prefer that they let him take the time off.
It’s pushing no matter how you look at it. He is an actor, not a Wisconsin school teacher, which means he has an expiration date. When he is too old or Hollywood deems him no longer significant, he will no longer get a paycheck. Besson can wait until next year.
I think that TAKEN proves that an actor can potentially have no expiration date. Mickey Rourke proves that as well. Just wanted to jump in here and say that. If Neeson ended up choosing to step away, I don’t think he has an expiration date. With TAKEN he’s bigger than ever and at a later stage in his career. So no reason to think he couldn’t do it again. He’ll become the Michael Caine for our generation.
I think Harrison Ford (who got rousted for vagrancy on his wife’s movie set) can clean up and prove that actors have no expiry date.
Be happy to have your career up and moving again… you’re getting older and no one is going to care (very soon) about you at all… make the movie take time off when you’re done.
Oy. One has to hope as an actor that if they become as well-respected and central to a franchise as this guy, they will not have to behave like a desperate wanna-be starlet to keep the industry sated. Does this sycophantic “I’ll do anything, anytime, anywhere, no matter what it costs my soul” thing ever move into an actor’s rear-view mirror? I mean, how good do you have to be? How much do you have to have proven? Over how many decades? Don’t answer these questions, animals. Hollywood’s answers to these questions are deeply depressing. This is why Daniel Day Lewis and Johnny Depp have LEFT THE COUNTRY. And who knows how many other talents choose to back away slowly and disappear because it’s all such a bloodless enterprise. Good God and goodnight.
If that’s all it takes to rid ourselves of self-important twits like Johnny Depp, then, more please! He was good in 21 Jumpstreet though
I saw Taken 2 a few weeks ago. It was called Unknown.
It was Borne 1 1/2, not Taken 2
No. It was “I Am #2, Steaming and Taken”.
The film can wait for Neeson to take the time he needs. We all know what happened. Have some compassion.
Without Neeson it really will be a Megaton Bomb. So the director has a perfect name. Oliver Megaton Bomb!
Taken for Granted…. what a self-righteous and wrong-headed thing for you to assert that without Liam Neeson the movie, Taken 2, will be a “megaton bomb” … Last I checked there was this individual called a SCREENWRITER without whose contribution any movie, not to mention the movie industry, would be tits sky-high up.
Please don’t get me wrong, Liam is solid and does what he does well but without the writer what would Liam do or say on the Big Screen?
Just saying the script does have something to do with the overall quality of the movie….
Umm have you actually seen Taken. I don’t think anyone would say it had a first-class screenplay.
+100. Me thinks that “bobby the saint” is actually “bobby the out of work writer.” Save a few good lines the TAKEN script sucked, it was all in the acting, directing, and the fact that other than Neeson, an actor not a movie star, it was a no-name cast. I’m sorry, any writer worth a shit would have written the scenes where Neeson impersonates a French cop in French with English subtitles…
although I absolutely LOVED Taken (actually saw it on the big screen)the writing was the worst part of the movie! The screenplay plotted along very predictably, and frankly, the movie was saved by the acting. Neeson did a very good job of portraying a father on a mission. Everything fell into place a little to easily, but hey, it’s a movie – not real life! A sequel without Neeson would be waste of time and money. It would be a “same day as dvd” release for sure.
You are so right, Bobby. The script is vital to making a movie; NO actor or director can make a good one out of a bad script. And ‘Taken’ had a phenomenal script.
I thought they already made the sequel — it was called “Unknown.”
Neeson needs to do this. He is what elevates the TAKEN brand. Just like he puts the “Li” in “am.” This sequel wouldn’t have the same effect with the others, no matter how awesome Mickey Rourke is or the other contenders are. Plus, Neeson needs to keep living up to his newly acclaimed and much heralded action badass persona and stomp some rampage onto Istanbul. No one can play sincere yet turn badass at the drop of a dime like Neeson can. If he’s determing to do TAKEN 2, he will do TAKEN 2. After all, Neeson is the best at playing determined action heroes. The big question is what’s his character doing in Istanbul? Attending Famke’s wedding?
They should release the movie on Liam Neeson’s 60th birthday with the tagline:
“This Father’s day, get Taken 2
Liam Neeson’s 60th birthday at a cinema near you.
Go now, before he shows up at your door….
And he won’t be the one asking questions
But he’ll be getting answers”
Fair point. Neeson adds class to what would otherwise be a Jason Statham movie.
No brainer. You wait till he’s ready. If they replace him allow me to suggest the tagline. Taken 2…straight to DVD.
Spot on.
Give him whatever he wants for the salary, the schedule, and the respect. He made the movie awesome. There is zero reason to make a sequel unless he is involved.
This is exactly what I was thinking.. I kept reading along and kept scrolling down to see if someone had put this.I know there is plenty of older/great actors who can step in and take his place, but a TAKEN 2 without him would feel like a B movie all the way. (ex: Boondock Saints 2) First one was awesome.. the second one.. -____-
Your point about Boondock Saints 2 is stupid. You are trying to say Taken 2 without Liam Neeson would be crap (which I agree) but you can’t compare it to Boondock Saints 2 since Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus were still the main characters…
Jayson you hit the nail right on the head. They don’t care if you implode as long as you make the movie first. mega-assholes.
It’s a good b movie because you have a solid script for a solid actor as Neeson is.
This sure as heck helps the directing.
It’s just more powerful to have a solid actor with a firm foundation in drama as Neeson does, to put him into a genre picture as it is for a lot of B movie actors to try more difficult roles in dramas. I do agree with the other comm about leeson needing his time and his life, especially with what he’s gone through. Wait for Neeson…and you’ll have a much better movie all the way around. Trust me on this.
A “Taken” sequel without him will be a BAD idea. It might as well be Direct to DVD. No one will take it seriously.
Waiting for him to return will ensure big box office… Waiting for him to get his shit together with some time off is a no-brainer.
TAKEN was an enjoyable b-level thriller. But who really gives a shit if we get a sequel or not?
Ask every exec in town who’s currently trying to develop one of their own.
Taken 2 without Neson has been done already – see Darkman 2 & 3. Bad idea.
Global hit, huh? And here I thought it was an embarrassing piece of crap that he was lucky to rise above.
Different strokes, I guess, but I thought the consensus at the time was that it was poorly written, very poorly acted tripe. That remains my opinion, but I guess the money says otherwise (which I guess is ALSO why Kim Kardashian is an icon, and American Idol is a cultural landmark).
I sure hope Maggie Grace is “unavailable,” or that she demands too much. Neeson shouldn’t have to put up with a performance like THAT again…Or maybe this time they’ll cast her as someone within 10 years of her actual age???
“It’s my daughter. She’s been taken. Again.”
Taken 2 where?
this is petulant actor bullshit. this whole “dealing with things” is a complete canard. natasha died two years ago, and that totally sucked. Liam hasn’t really done any work since then, so to say, “I need some time off”, guess what–you’ve had two years off…moving on without you dude.
you’re a good actor, but you’re either in or you’re not. nothing stops the money train.
“…after completing the Clash of the Titans sequel he’s shooting in London. He has been working almost nonstop, wrapping The Grey for Joe Carnahan and Battleship for Peter Berg.”
Yeah, guy. He hasn’t really done any work since then. Go back to stocking the shelves, bud.
studiocityguy, you’re an idiot. seriously. he did clash of titans, battleship, unknown, chloe, the a-team, just wrapped THE GREY and is working on clash 2 already.
sounds like time off?
Like everyone else has said, your post is pretty idiotic. In the last two years he has been working as much as any actor in Hollywood, and definitely more than he ever has before.
Wait on Liam to deal with his personal life. “Unknown” is NOT “Taken 2″ in any way. To substitute another actor would be a horrible mistake. Not only is there NO substitute for Liam Neeson, but it would be a clear slap in the face to his fans. Finally, he made millions for the writer and made the movie the hit that it was. The writer can at least have the decency to wait until Liam is ready to make the film.
neeson has been working non stop since his wife passed. why stop now? do taken 2 for all of 3 months, collect that fat check, then chill out for as long as you want.
Charlie Sheen. “Taken 2: Eye of the Tiger Blood”
“It’s my Goddesses – they’ve been kidnapped!”
+1
Neeson’s 2 minutes in “The Next Three Days” was the only good thing in that wretched mess. Can someone explain to me why he did that cameo?
Am I the only person who thinks this idea is redundant? If your daughter keeps getting Ono this sort of trouble either put a bell on her or low jack her. Plus it’s not a franchise…there’s only been the one film. What was great about the first film was it was a sleeper hit. Like the Pirates sequels anything after the original will feel contrived and forced
I certainly hope the storyline ignores his family entirely for the main plot. The article simply says its a sequel and he’s been asked to reprise his role. I haven’t seen/heard of a script, so if one is making the rounds I apologize for not being familiar, but … really, what people responded to in the first film (despite some obvious flaws, noted in some other comments here) was his character’s total commitment and utter bad-ass-ness. There’s tons of storylines that can be woven with that guy, his old coworkers, and any number of threat or extraction scenarios. Although, I can agree that the motivation will be a challenge. Its hard to top a daughter that has been kidnapped and is about to be sold into the sex slave trade.
Pistol Pete, dat’s funny!
Hollywood (obviously) is all about leverage. Prior to Taken, Liam didn’t have much leverage. Now he has leverage and is using it. Taken 2 bombs and the leverage lever shifts away from him. And on and on it goes.
The script for the routine playing out here is not a sequel, but part infinity. Keeps us all coming back for more, though!
Here’s an idea- wait for him. There is no taken 2 without Liam
No it’s time to reboot Taken and cast it with Channing Tatum he’ll have to find his father who’s been taken by bad guys. Or his mother who’s been taken by bad guys. Liam is too old we need to aim this one at the younger demo.
Channing Tatum? WTF Please stay off this site.
Now it’s time for Liam Neeson to take the role he was born for: Jor-El, in Snyder’s Superman!