Taken was a surprise hit — the film was produced on a small ($25 million) budget and became one of the top 20 grossing films of 2009. It’s no surprise then that those behind the original were thinking sequel.
Writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (who wrote the original) have been working on the script and have tapped director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3) for the sequel. But someone forgot to call star Liam Neeson, who was definitely one of the main reasons why the film became a hit (heck, you could argue it was just his voice in the trailers which got people interested!) See, Neeson wants to take time off from films and filmming for Taken 2 would’ve been during this break.
According to Deadline, Besson had several actors in mind for a possible replacement, including Mickey Rourke, Ralph Fiennes, Ray Winstone, Sean Bean, and Jason Isaacs. It seemed like Taken 2 with Liam Neeson wasn’t going to happen.
But — ta-da! — Deadline now reports that Neeson is back in. Neeson plans on taking most of 2011 off, and Taken 2 will begin production at the end of this year or in early 2012 with Neeson back as retired badass Bryan Mills. So although we’ll have to wait, we’ll get Taken 2 with Neeson sometime down the road, which is great news.
What would you like to see in Taken 2? Give us your best “Liam Neeson kicks ass” plot ideas below!
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