Taken Sequel In The Works
The underdog story of this year in film has got to be the surprise success of Taken, the Liam Neeson action vehicle that arrived with little fanfare from France and is currently sitting at second place for the year in box office receipts. So it should come as no surprise that Co-writer Robert Mark Kamen has admitted that a follow-up is in development, along with an Americanized version of the parkour-driven action extravaganza District B13.
I have little doubt that, with the original team on board, a sequel could be an exciting venture. However, I wonder if this is going to be another Transporter, trading on the central concept as presented in its title, in this case retrieving those kidnapped, or if they’re going to branch out to other forms of action. And one other question remains; how has Taken stayed so steady week after week while other, more hyped movies have faltered? Are we so enamoured with Bourne-style action that we’ll take whatever we can get, were audiences craving something relatively straight-forward in a slate of releases that were anything but, or is it something else entirely?
Comments (19)
I think that the success of the film lies in the revenge story. It’s exactly like we would like to fantasize about on how we would go about taking care of business if one of our loved ones got in to a situation like this. The relentless way Neeson’s character goes about without thinking of the consequences lies well with people and is something that wish we could do.
Plus it’s a yank kicking allot of french and eastern European ass and I’m sure that helps as well.
I don’t know how they would go about making another story that could speak so well do our primal needs, his daughter gets kidnapped again, somebody else from his family? If it’s just a random person and he’s hired for the job I don’t think the audience would connect as well to the story.
Posted by swarez on March 12th, 2009Just had another thought.
Posted by swarez on March 12th, 2009If it’s him that is “Taken” and has to get out of there then maybe that’s the way to go.
I was thinking along the same lines, swarez. It would be a nice reversal on the concept, though I think it would be even more effective if the second one was along the same lines as the first to make the third a real curveball.
I just wonder if they’re going to dump the ‘Taken’ concept altogether. Maybe the second one will be ‘Given’, and they could release it just in time for Christmas.
Posted by Wintle on March 12th, 2009I really liked the movie. Part of the appeal for me was that the film came without the hype. Now, with the success of the original, I wonder how the sequel would fare given the anticipation it would build.
Posted by Gabriel117 on March 12th, 2009i really was blown away by this flick, never once did i look at my watch. it held my interest from start to finish. now a sequel? is his daughter getting snatched again, or is he getting hired by someone else? i dont know, i am getting tired of sequels and remakes.
Posted by Chopper on March 12th, 2009It has had pretty impressive staying power, keeping in the top 5 at the box office (in Canada) since it was released 6 weeks ago. Not bad at all.
Is that enough to get a sequel? Could be. They could go so many ways with it. He could go back to being a ‘preventer’, go private, be an instructor of someking, do something with his friends. Heck, maybe he’ll train his daughter and she’ll save him. Or – not train his daughter but she goes into it anyway then gets Taken again!
There are many threads they could pick up.
Posted by Shannon the Movie Moxie on March 12th, 2009I really enjoyed Taken. Had a fantastic time with it. It was just a really good movie. I am actually excited to see there is a sequel coming. I would really like them to explore more into that particular world they touched upon, with the sex slave trade, with this character. I think the perspective I’d rather see is him digging into that world as opposed to another daughter (or someone else close to him) being taken and he goes out for revenge. I think there is alot there with this concept. This could be good.
Posted by Captain N on March 12th, 2009I really liked Taken. The best thing about it was the fact that it took its time to develop the Liam Neeson character. I really liked him so I cared about his plight. This could be the Paul Kersey of this generation. Im glad to see an actor in his 50’s do this type of thing again. I pefer Taken over the Jason Bourne films any day of the week.
chuck
Posted by entertainmenttodayandbeyond on March 14th, 2009I completely agree. Excellent movie – Way better than The Bourne trilogy. Can’t wait for the sequel!
Posted by sarah on March 14th, 2009I would love to see a Taken 2. I hope that they portray just as detailed perspective of another character. They depicted Mills’ perspective well, didn’t they? But I doubt that the new story will have anything to do with Kim’s abduction. That would be a writer’s and filmmaker’s suicide, now that most box-office hit films have a sequel. But I guess they may be considering to capitalize on the idea of revenge. Or not. Who knows? I just want to see the sequel.
Posted by imafairy on April 15th, 2009i would love to see a sequel to taken, as long as its done correctly. they can basicaly do the sequel 3 different ways they can do a new story with a new character, it didnt work for the butterfly effect 2 so it probably wont for this. They can have the same characters and have the daughter get kidnapped again, basicaly escape from l.a. which kinda sucked. or they can have a whole new adventure with the same character, which is what i would like to see done with it like the french government coming after brian for what he did.
Posted by nick on May 10th, 2009his daughter and the singer (from the first film) gets “taken” while on consert or rehursing..
Posted by kapri on May 16th, 2009I loved this movie, I really found myself rooting for Bryan Mills, and think a sequal would be interesting if done well.
I really think that this could be done with the same story. I mean, he killed some royal Arab guy, a bunch of Albanians, and really put a crimp in the business of sex slavery in Paris. He’s made some enemies, and they may be gunning for revenge.
Posted by Captcorajus on May 27th, 2009Well what if this time they did it as if the bad guys came after him? I mean he pistol whipped his old friend who had ties to the organization theres more than just one big bad guy not to mention that guy named “Mr.Nervous.” Just do a spin of the bad guys coming after him?
Posted by WH331M4N on June 4th, 2009They should not do a sequel! However they should do a prequal. Go over his life in the CIA.
Damn I would be happy with anything. Loved Liam since Dark Man.
Posted by kyle on June 10th, 2009Maybe the sequel will show what happened from the daughter’s point-of-view from when she was taken to when she was rescued by her dad
Posted by Mike on July 2nd, 2009The sequel should be 3 years later, his daughter is a pop star and Brian goes back to the CIA because his daughter is now grown up. He and a team go back to France to exterminate that whole group of Albanians.
Posted by Peanut Pickle on July 17th, 2009I think the sequel to this excellent sequel should involve more of Holly Valance in hot pants.
Perhaps it could be Liam Neeson working as her full time body guard. And we just see her safe and sound showering in the dressing room for the whole film.
That would rule.
Posted by Andy on July 31st, 2009I think they could do it when his daughter is grown up and a popstar, he recommends some of his old friends to be her ‘preventers’ but she gets kidnapped anyway… he tracks them all down, rescues her and finds out that it was one of his friends who helped kidnap her for lots of money!! Needless to say, he f’s him up
Posted by Jay on August 16th, 2009Leave a Reply