Liam Neeson To Get Paid – Try $20 Million
Get ready for a third installment of Taken, the franchise launched by EuropaCorp’s Luc Besson and released by 20th Century Fox. I’m told that Liam Neeson is closing a deal in the vicinity of $20 million to reprise his role as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent who used his brutal skills after his daughter was kidnapped in France to be sold into sex slavery. Neeson was a reluctant participant in the first sequel but got paid in the $15 million neighborhood. Now I hear he’s getting another raise, and that EuropaCorp is planning to start production in February.
Next will come the effort to make deals with Maggie Grace, who played
his daughter in the first two films, and Famke Janssen, who played his
ex-wife. They have a script well in the works from Besson and Robert
Mark Kamen, who teamed for the first two films. No director has yet been
set, but don’t be surprised if Olivier Megaton comes back. He’s the
Besson protege who directed the last film, which cost around $45 million
and grossed over $376 million. The first film cost around $25 million
and grossed over $226 million, with Pierre Morel directing. I thought
the original film was vastly better than the sequel. But when the sequel
does better than the original at the box office, and doesn’t cost that
much more, of course they will try for the trifecta. The key has been
getting Neeson. Remarkable that the former
boxer will make more money than he has ever in his long career, and
that he has grown into one of the most bankable action stars in the
business. This is after he stood still for most of his career and
suddenly started kicking ass in his later years, leading to this payday
at the tender age of 61. Neeson is repped by CAA.
