Liam Neeson looks set to sign up for a third Taken film , after he was offered $20million to reprise the character of Bryan Mills.
Previously, Neeson had predicted that Taken 2 would be the final instalment of the action series, however having grossed $376million at the global box office it would appear that 20th Century Fox are willing to pay Neeson an extraordinary amount of money to return.
Deadline are now reporting that Neeson, who will star in Anchorman 2 later this year, is “closing a deal” now to return which will see him pocket around $20million, and at the age of 61 he has suddenly found himself as one of the most sought after action stars in Hollywood.
The original Taken was released in 2008, and starred Neeson as Mills, a former CIA agent whose teenage daughter, Kim, played by Maggie Grace, is kidnapped by human traffickers.
It proved to be surprise hit at the box office and went on to gross over $226million at cinemas, plus it proved that Neeson still had all the attributes to flourish as an action star.
The sequel, which hit cinemas in October 2012, saw Neeson’s character kidnapped and revolved around his daughter’s attempts to rescue him. It proved even more popular than the original.
A script for Taken 3 is already been worked on by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who combined to create the first two films, but a director is yet to be announced. Deadline has added that 20th Century Fox are currently negotiating deals to sing up Grace and Famke Janssen, who starred as Lenore, the wife to Neeson’s Bryan in both Taken and Taken 2.
Pierre Morel directed the second film for only $25million, which was $20million cheaper than the original, and it managed to gross over $150million more despite its relatively poor reviews. Deadline has reported that Fox will try to get Morel to return.
Are you looking forward to Taken 3?
