Taken 2

Liam Neeson Kicks More Ass in First Images from TAKEN 2

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 17th, 2012 at 8:43 am

Liam Neeson’s career path is an interesting one.  He first broke out with dramatic roles in films like The Mission, Les Miserables, and Schindler’s List, but now approaching the age of 60, Neeson has become the go-to actor when you need a badass lead.  He’ll be seen taking names and such later this year in director Olivier Megaton‘s (Colombiana) sequel Taken 2, and the first images from the film have landed online along with a few quotes from the actor himself.  Naturally the images show Neeson as a guy you do not want to mess with, especially if you want to keep your neck from being snapped in half.

Hit the jump to check out the images and to find out what we can expect from the follow-up.

20th Century Fox CinemaCon Recap: Ang Lee’s LIFE OF PI, TAKEN 2, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, PROMETHEUS, and More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: April 26th, 2012 at 1:50 pm

At this morning’s 20th Century Fox CinemaCon 2012 panel, Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos (Co-Chairman Fox Filmed Entertainment) world premiered footage from all their upcoming releases and talked about what they have coming up in the future.  While I was excited to see more of Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus, and Liam Neeson kicking a lot of ass in Taken 2, the real surprise was Ang Lee‘s Life of Pi.  Called unfilmmable by anyone that’s read Yann Martel‘s 2001 novel about a boy and a tiger that get stranded at sea, the unfinished footage that Fox world premiered today was nothing short of stunning, and it was easily the highlight of their presentation.  While you might have wondered if Ang Lee could pull it off, based on what I saw today, Life of Pi is an early contender for Best Picture and all the other year end awards.  Hit the jump for more.

Maggie Grace Talks LOCKOUT, TWILIGHT, TAKEN 2, DECODING ANNIE PARKER, and More

by Sheila Roberts    Posted: April 10th, 2012 at 1:48 am

Luc Besson’s new sci-fi thriller, Lockout, is a fun and exciting ride set in the not too distant future.  Maggie Grace plays first daughter Emilie Warnock who is leading a humanitarian mission to MS One, an experimental prison in space. When a violent intergalactic mutiny unexpectedly sets loose 500 of Earth’s most dangerous psychotic criminals, President Warnock sends in the falsely convicted Agent Snow (Guy Pearce) to rescue her in exchange for his freedom. Living up to his irreverent reputation, Snow pushes all of Emilie’s buttons, but Emilie proves she can give as good as she gets and together they make a formidable team.

At the press day for Lockout, we sat down with Grace at a roundtable interview to talk about what attracted her to the role of Emilie.  She told us why she loves her action films served up with humor and how she enjoyed taking on the physically demanding role that involved sophisticated action scenes and a combination of stunts, combats and wire-work.  She discussed her training with stunt coordinator Patrick Cauderlier, her fun relationship on set with Pearce and their collaboration on the film’s Casablanca-inspired final scene, and why running in spacesuits presented some unusual challenges.   Grace also talked about her upcoming projects: Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2, Taken 2 and Decoding Annie Parker, plus why she’d like to do a romantic comedy.

Maggie Grace Talks TAKEN 2 and THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 2 at WonderCon

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: March 19th, 2012 at 3:42 pm

At this weekend’s WonderCon, I was able to sit down with Maggie Grace (Lost) for an extended interview.  The reason she was attending the con was to promote Luc Besson‘s high-octane outer space thriller Lockout that also stars Guy Pearce.   In the film, Pearce plays Snow, a man wrongly accused of conspiracy to commit espionage. His one chance at a pardon comes when he is tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter from a maximum security outer space prison facility when the inmates take control.  Lockout is the feature directorial debut of James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and it opens April 13th.  For more on the film, here’s a five minute clip and our recap of the WonderCon panel.

Since my interview with Grace covered a number of her upcoming projects like Taken 2 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, I decided to break it up into two parts.  In today’s installment, Grace talks about the success of the first Taken and what the sequel is about.  In addition, with Grace playing Irina Denali in the final Twilight movie, she describes her character, what it was like to work for Bill Condon, what the fans have been like, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch and look for more with Grace tomorrow.

Liam Neeson Talks THE GREY and TAKEN 2

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 23rd, 2012 at 9:19 pm

With director Joe Carnahan’s (Narc, Smokin’ Aces, and The A-Team) awesome survival-action flick The Grey opening this weekend, I recently got the chance to talk with the cast.  Starring Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, and Joe Anderson, The Grey is about a group of oilmen who have crash landed in the hunting zone of a rogue pack of wolves in the Alaskan tundra.  If you’re a fan of the cast, Carnahan, or just well made movies, The Grey will not disappoint.

During my interview with Neeson we talked about the challenges of making the film, how he got involved in the project, how many takes he likes to do, and which movie more people want to talk about when the meet him: Love Actually, Batman Begins or Star Wars.  In addition Neeson we talked about how filming on Taken 2 has been going, and if they feel any pressure after the first film was both a commercial and critical hit.  Hit the jump to watch.

Casting Call: Luke Grimes Joins TAKEN 2, Barry Sloane Invades PENTHOUSE NORTH, Jerry Ferrara Boards Airplane-Thriller 7500

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 8th, 2011 at 7:02 pm

Principal actors Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen are already slated to return for the Taken sequel, but director Olivier Megaton (Colombiana) needs new actors to replace all the ones Bryan Mills (Neeson) killed in the original. We know the villain will be Rade Serbedzija (Snatch), playing the father of one of the slain kidnappers who takes Mills and his ex-wife (Janssen) hostage. Luke Grimes (Brothers & Sisters) has been cast as the love interest of Mills’ daughter (Grace) and will most likely play a part in helping her rescue her parents.

In other casting news, Barry Sloane (Holby City) will join Michelle Monaghan (Source Code) and Michael Keaton as Keaton’s partner in crime in Penthouse North. Lastly, Jerry Ferrara (Entourage) has been added to the cast of airplane-thriller, 7500. The film, by director Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge) also stars Ryan Kwanten, Amy Smart, Leslie Bibb and Jamie Chung. Hit the jump for more on each project.

Rade Sherbedgia Set as Villain Opposite Liam Neeson in TAKEN 2

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 13th, 2011 at 8:31 pm

Fox has found its foil to Liam Neeson for Taken 2. Serbian actor Rade Sherbedgia, a recognizable face who has had memorable turns in films like Batman Begins, Snatch, and Mission: Impossible II, will take on the role of Murad. Heat Vision reports that Murad is the father of a kidnapper who met his maker at the hands of Neeson in kick-ass mode during the first film. The plot from the first film is turned on its head this time around, as the story finds Neeson and his wife (Famke Janssen) being held hostage by Murad, forcing Neeson’s daughter (Maggie Grace) to rescue them. Olivier Megaton (Colombiana) is directing a script by producer Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. Production is set to get underway later this month in Turkey and France. Taken 2 opens October 5th, 2012.

Fox Announces Release Dates for PERCY JACKSON 2, TAKEN 2, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 12th, 2011 at 12:08 pm

In addition to announcing that Die Hard 5 (or as it’s now officially called, “A Good Day to Die Hard“) will be released on February 14, 2013, 20th Century Fox has revealed the release dates for some of their other upcoming films.  According to THR, the Percy Jackson sequel, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters will hit on Wednesday, March 26, 2013.  The Billy Crystal and Bette Midler comedy Parental Guidance (previously titled Us & Them) is set for November 21, 2012 so it can try to draw in families over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Other dates include Taken 2 on October 5, 2012, Curtis Hanson’s surfing drama Men & Mavericks on October 26, 2012, and the 3D family film Walking with Dinosaurs has been pushed up to October 11, 2013.

Hit the jump to find out what films are sharing these weekends.

Casting Call: Penelope Cruz in Woody Allen Film, Maggie Grace in TAKEN 2, Thandie Newton in GOOD DEEDS, Jay Baruchel in COSMOPOLIS, Ryan O’Nan in FREELANCERS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 6th, 2011 at 3:53 pm

We’ve got quite a few casting stories for you this afternoon. First up, it looks like Penelope Cruz is set to re-team with director Woody Allen. The actress won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona and now EW reports that she’s set to work with the director again, presumably on his next film that is set in Rome. There are currently no plot details on the flick, which is set to start filming this summer.

Maggie Grace has closed her deal to return in producer Luc Besson’s Taken 2. There was previously some hubbub over whether star Liam Neeson would reprise his role from the first film, but everything was squared away and now Deadline reports that the film is ready to go with director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3). Hit the jump for the casting news of Thandie Newton starring in Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, Jay Baruchel joining David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis and Ryan O’Nan nabbing a starring role in Freelancers.

Trouble With TAKEN 2? Scheduling Issues Force Producer to Consider Replacing Liam Neeson [UPDATED]

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 16th, 2011 at 4:46 pm

It looks like things aren’t going as smoothly as one would think in pulling together a sequel to the 2008 break-out hit Taken, starring Liam Neeson. Following the success of the French action-thriller, producer Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (both wrote The Fifth Element) wrote a script for a sequel. Besson lined up his Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton to helm the sequel, and everything was ready to go until they got to their lead actor.

Deadline reports that Neeson and Besson are at odds over when to film the flick. Neeson wants to take some time off (and deservedly so) and Besson wants to shoot the film this year. Apparently things got to the point where Besson assembled a short list of actors to replace Neeson that includes Mickey Rourke, Ralph Fiennes, Ray Winstone, Sean Bean and Jason Isaacs. While the report states that things started turning around for Neeson yesterday, he is by no means definitely returning. The plan now is to shoot in Istanbul later this year, while also giving Neeson the time off he needs. Given that the original grossed $227 million worldwide, it’s safe to assume that everyone involved is crossing their fingers for a smooth transition.

[Update: Well, now Deadline says that Besson and Neeson have worked things out and production on Taken 2 is scheduled to start sometime later this year or early 2012. So, nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.]

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