The late-breaking career reinvention of Liam Neeson has been one of the more interesting third acts in recent stardom. Just a decade ago, Neeson was a familiar face, sure, but perhaps not a box office draw — “Star Wars” and “Batman Begins” aside, he was probably most identified with being the sober leading man of “Schindler’s List” and its like — a respected dramatic actor with gravitas like few others, who’d worked with top-notch filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Kathryn Bigelow and Ridley Scott.
But then came, at the age of 55, “Taken,” an unlikely box office smash, and suddenly Neeson was a bona-fide action star at time when few others have emerged, proving a reliable box office draw not just across the “Taken” films, but also movies like “The Grey,” “Unknown” and “Non-Stop.” But fans of Neeson flying around the world and punching people are in for some bad news, because Neeson has said that he’s planning to retire from action movies.
While promoting his latest film, “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House” at TIFF, Neeson told a press conference (via Sky News) that his recent run of action-thrillers was “all a pure accident… They’re still throwing serious money at me to do that stuff. I’m like ‘Guys, I’m sixty-fucking-five.’ Audiences are eventually going to go: ‘Come on.’”
That a 78-year-old Harrison Ford will star in a fifth “Indiana Jones” in a few years might suggest that Neeson is putting a little too much faith in audiences, but in some ways, the box office returns back him up: the third “Taken” fell off considerably box-office-wise, and Neeson’s most recent genre picture, “Run All Night,” made just $26 million back in 2015.
Nevertheless, Neeson isn’t quite done: he’ll star in Jaume Collet-Serra’s “The Commuter” in January (watch the trailer from yesterday), and has wrapped snowy revenge movie “Hard Powder,” plus he’s also attached to ANOTHER revenge pic “Retribution,” and William Monahan’s detective pic “Marlowe.” But it’s likely that these are lighter on the action, and Neeson’s recent career choices, movies like Mark Felt, “A Monster Calls,” Scorsese’s “Silence” and Steve McQueen’s “Widows,” suggest he’s keener to work with auteurs than with directors with the surname ‘Megaton’ at the minute.
Still, it’s a shame for those of us who are looking forward to seeing him kick ass in “Mark Felt: Never Go Back” and “Mark Felt: Shadow Recruit.” “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House” opens on September 29th.