“I don’t think it’s going to happen, I can’t see a possible scenario, that audiences wouldn’t go ‘Oh, come on. She’s taken again?'” Liam Neeson said last fall about a possible “Taken 3.” “Unless we do one where I give her away.” But it looks like the actor has found a plausible scenario, one that involves a lot of cash being paid for him to return to the action franchise.
Deadline reports that Neeson is about to earn $20 million for reprising his role as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA dude always pulled back into action to save his family. This always seemed pretty much inevitable, and screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen — who is co-writing the new script with Luc Besson — said as much last year, when he indicated Fox was looking to make a sequel. And with good reason. “Taken 2” earned a staggering $376 million worldwide despite being terrible, confirming that audiences really love Neeson growling, talking into cellphones and making emphatic speeches about his skills.
Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen will be next to make deals to return as well, but not word yet on who will get totally tooken this time out. But we’ll probably find out soon enough as production is slated to begin February.