Denzel Washington has managed to avoid sequels and franchises for most of his career, but there is one exception: "The Equalizer," a movie reboot of the 1980s TV series that has since become Washington's first movie trilogy. All three movies were directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose working relationship with Washington dates back to 2001's "Training Day." Now, the early box office numbers for "The Equalizer 3" -- ostensibly the final outing for Washington's Robert McCall -- are in, and they're ending the 2023 summer box office on a high note.
More specifically, they've pushed the box office to its first $4 billion summer since the pandemic began, per The Hollywood Reporter. The movie grossed $13.1 million on its opening day and is expected to make between $42 million and $43.5 million over the Labor Day weekend, with a three-day total of $35 million. It's outperforming expectations from earlier in the week, when Variety predicted it...
More specifically, they've pushed the box office to its first $4 billion summer since the pandemic began, per The Hollywood Reporter. The movie grossed $13.1 million on its opening day and is expected to make between $42 million and $43.5 million over the Labor Day weekend, with a three-day total of $35 million. It's outperforming expectations from earlier in the week, when Variety predicted it...
- 9/2/2023
- by Hannah Shaw-Williams
- Slash Film
The Taken season 2 premiere picks up where we left off in the season 1 finale. Brian Mills (Clive Standen) is stuck in a Mexican prison. How he gets out of that prison is done as well as any B-action film could be done – on network television. Like, there’s no way they could get do the level of carnage that goes into the Taken movies. (Last month I did on a little research on those.) The Taken Season 2 Premiere Gives Us A Stronger Sense of Bryan Mills A high body count on a network television show is about
The Taken Season 2 Premiere Had a Person of Interest to the Machine...
The Taken Season 2 Premiere Had a Person of Interest to the Machine...
- 1/17/2018
- by Joy D'Angelo
- TVovermind.com
Liam Neeson earned a $20 million payday to return as Brian Mills in Taken 3 and if initial box-office reports are any indication, Taken 3 is well on its way to making some serious cash for Twentieth Century Fox. So that begs the question: Will we see a Taken 4 (or maybe you'd prefer T4KEN)? Money talks and fortunately for us, so does Liam Neeson. He recently spoke about what it was like to embark on a third journey and working with Forest Whitaker, of which you can check out here, but...
- 1/12/2015
- by Sean Wist
- JoBlo.com
20th Century Fox released their new action/thriller flick, "Taken 3," into theaters this weekend. I just checked it out and thought it was highly entertaining, serving up a ton of action with major drama and twists at every turn. It stars: Famke Janssen, Liam Neeson, Dougray Scott, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser and Sam Spruell. In the new flick, everything seems fine and dandy at first. Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) is seen, getting his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), a birthday present that's way too childish for an adult woman, who has actually just found out that she's preggers, but is hiding it at the moment. Brian is getting along well with his ex-wife, Lenny. A little too well as they end up kissing but have to stop since she's still married to Stuart St. John. Shortly after these happy go-lucky scenes, Brian receives a supposed text from Lenny,...
- 1/11/2015
- by Andre Braddox
- OnTheFlix
The Taken franchise has spanned six years and three films. And during that period Liam Neeson, who plays former government operative Brian Mills, has been "the best fake movie dad any girl could ask for" to his fictional daughter Maggie Grace. During an appearance on Conan, Grace told the story of how Liam Neeson prank-called an ex-boyfriend who broke her heart. To exact revenge, Neeson put on his best set of skills — as Brian Mills — and warned the boy never to cross her again. Pro tip: Don't break Maggie Grace's heart or Liam Neeson will break your arm.
- 1/10/2015
- by E. Alex Jung
- Vulture
Director Pierre Morel launched Liam Neeson into the starry stratosphere in abduction thriller Taken, and that’s a formula he seems intent on continuing. His latest entry into the action canon, The Gunman, sees him switch out Neeson’s grizzled Brian Mills for Sean Penn’s hitman. The names may have changed, but the game remains the same, as judging by this first trailer there’s loads of weapons, explosions and sour-faced do-gooders.
Ahead of the film’s spring release, the debut of its trailer offers a by-the-numbers glimpse at what we can expect on the big screen. Penned by Pete Travis (Dredd) and based on the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette, The Gunman follows Penn’s Jim Terrier, an international assassin who longs to put his murderous days behind him. When his former organization vows to silence him on their exploits, they kidnap his girlfriend (Jasmine Trinca), prompting Terrier to...
Ahead of the film’s spring release, the debut of its trailer offers a by-the-numbers glimpse at what we can expect on the big screen. Penned by Pete Travis (Dredd) and based on the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette, The Gunman follows Penn’s Jim Terrier, an international assassin who longs to put his murderous days behind him. When his former organization vows to silence him on their exploits, they kidnap his girlfriend (Jasmine Trinca), prompting Terrier to...
- 12/11/2014
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
Liam Neeson is back for Taken 3, officially titled Tak3n! From the film’s first trailer, it looks like Liam’s being accused of murder! Liam returns as ex-cia agent Brian Mills for the third installment of the Taken franchise. When Brian’s ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) is found dead, he’s blamed for the murder. Check out the...Read more»...
- 9/30/2014
- by Jess Cohen
- Celebuzz.com
Now that the kids have gone back to school, things have gotten relatively quiet in the streaming wars. One thing that alarms though is in looking at the list below, you see the usual titles from late last year being added to Now TV, Lovefilm etc, but where is the new stuff on Netflix? Sure they have added some good catalogue stuff but Gambit is their only title? Really?
It’s not looking good for Netflix which sucks because as I have said before, their software and its reliability and ease of use would mean they would have this war all sewn up if they could just land the big films the way Lovefilm and Now TV are doing, The Hobbit and Breaking Bad are their only recent big wins since Orange is the New Black. With the other big ones averaging at least one huge new title a week,...
It’s not looking good for Netflix which sucks because as I have said before, their software and its reliability and ease of use would mean they would have this war all sewn up if they could just land the big films the way Lovefilm and Now TV are doing, The Hobbit and Breaking Bad are their only recent big wins since Orange is the New Black. With the other big ones averaging at least one huge new title a week,...
- 9/9/2013
- by Chris Holt
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The first Taken was released ahead of the Us in the UK and opened to pretty bad reviews and subsequently disappeared from cinemas pretty quickly.
Then about four months later it opened in the Us in a cut form and was a massive box office success. This release coincided with the UK DVD release so people kind of re-appraised the film and it became a minor success on DVD over here. The sequel released last autumn was an equally massive success but the critical disappointment baffles me. People seemed to be genuinely disappointed that the sequel was not as ‘good’ as the first film like the first was some kind of masterpiece.
At best the first Taken film was a diverting piece of violence for a Friday night and not the pinnacle of modern action cinema it seems to be held up as. Let us not forget that Taken and...
Then about four months later it opened in the Us in a cut form and was a massive box office success. This release coincided with the UK DVD release so people kind of re-appraised the film and it became a minor success on DVD over here. The sequel released last autumn was an equally massive success but the critical disappointment baffles me. People seemed to be genuinely disappointed that the sequel was not as ‘good’ as the first film like the first was some kind of masterpiece.
At best the first Taken film was a diverting piece of violence for a Friday night and not the pinnacle of modern action cinema it seems to be held up as. Let us not forget that Taken and...
- 2/4/2013
- by Chris Holt
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Liam Neeson's big-budget sequel Taken 2 has taken a satisfying $50m at the Us box office in its opening weekend, taking it to the country's top cinema spot.
This is double that of Taken's original outing in 2009, which will come as a pleasant surprise to its star Liam Neeson, who only took the original role of highly-trained CIA operative Brian Mills, because it meant "three months in Paris, and then straight to DVD".
Liam Neeson in action again for Taken 2
"We were all pleasantly surprised," he remembers, chatting in London. "It came out in France, moderately successful, and then it came out in South Korea, phenomenally successful and the next thing you knew, my nephew's telling he he's watching it on his computer. I thought, 'That's it, we're finished.' But they started hyping it with these tiny spots at big events, and the next thing you know.
This is double that of Taken's original outing in 2009, which will come as a pleasant surprise to its star Liam Neeson, who only took the original role of highly-trained CIA operative Brian Mills, because it meant "three months in Paris, and then straight to DVD".
Liam Neeson in action again for Taken 2
"We were all pleasantly surprised," he remembers, chatting in London. "It came out in France, moderately successful, and then it came out in South Korea, phenomenally successful and the next thing you knew, my nephew's telling he he's watching it on his computer. I thought, 'That's it, we're finished.' But they started hyping it with these tiny spots at big events, and the next thing you know.
- 10/8/2012
- by Caroline Frost
- Huffington Post
It's one thing for a movie to be bad. That happens. It's the risk you take when you take the time to venture out of your home and into the streets of your city. A bad movie can be forgivable most of the time, a lot of effort goes into filmmaking and most civilized moviegoers realize that. Sometimes it's kind of a cop-out to label a movie with a one-word descriptor, but if ever a movie could be described in a single word, it would be Taken 2, and that word would be "lazy."
Taking place a couple of years after the events in the 2008 movie Taken, we find that Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) is still being overprotective -- although, after the first film, maybe just appropriately protective -- of his young daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). His ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) tells him to back off slightly -- everyone is...
Taking place a couple of years after the events in the 2008 movie Taken, we find that Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) is still being overprotective -- although, after the first film, maybe just appropriately protective -- of his young daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). His ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) tells him to back off slightly -- everyone is...
- 10/6/2012
- by J.C. De Leon
- Slackerwood
I know there’s a joke here somewhere…
Welcome to The CoF Weekend Preview, here is a look at what’s opening this weekend. Check out our Fall & Holiday Movie Guide for the rest of the year’s releases. Kevin’s The Review returned today, check it out. We have a lot of goodies coming for Halloween so stay tuned and have a great weekend!
Taken 2 – Rt (15%) – Trailer
Obviously if you enjoyed the first one you know how senseless and fun this is going to be. I enjoyed Taken a lot actually; you should check it out if you like the thought of old man Liam Neeson kicking some young butt. Drinking game: Drink every time Brian Mills’ ex-wife is a hosebeast.
Frankenweenie – Rt (81%) – Trailer
I will see this movie based on the fact it involves a dog, does that make me a bad person? It also looks very Tim Burton-y,...
Welcome to The CoF Weekend Preview, here is a look at what’s opening this weekend. Check out our Fall & Holiday Movie Guide for the rest of the year’s releases. Kevin’s The Review returned today, check it out. We have a lot of goodies coming for Halloween so stay tuned and have a great weekend!
Taken 2 – Rt (15%) – Trailer
Obviously if you enjoyed the first one you know how senseless and fun this is going to be. I enjoyed Taken a lot actually; you should check it out if you like the thought of old man Liam Neeson kicking some young butt. Drinking game: Drink every time Brian Mills’ ex-wife is a hosebeast.
Frankenweenie – Rt (81%) – Trailer
I will see this movie based on the fact it involves a dog, does that make me a bad person? It also looks very Tim Burton-y,...
- 10/5/2012
- by Graham McMorrow
- City of Films
Taken 2 is still a couple weeks away from hitting theaters, but if this new clip is any indication of what kind of action sequences are in store for us, Liam Neeson and company could be looking at another smash hit. The new clip finds Brian Mills (Neeson) hoping in a car with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) as they chase down and ultimately eliminate one of the many bad guys in the film. Taken 2 hits theaters October 5 and tickets are now on sale! Follow along on Twitter @DerrickDeane and @Fandango.
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- 9/19/2012
- by affiliates@fandango.com
- Fandango
Actress Joyce Redman, Oscar nominated for both Tom Jones and Othello, died in Kent, England, earlier today. The Newcastle-born Redman, who was either 93 or 96, had been suffering from pneumonia. Film lovers will remember her as Tom Jones‘ Mrs. Waters, stealing the movie while “sexting” — as in, sex while eating — Albert Finney. Mostly a stage and television performer, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art-trained Redman appeared in only a handful of movies. Yet, her brief film career was notable because of her two Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominations. In fact, Redman brought "Oscar luck" to her movies and fellow players: Best Picture Oscar winner Tom Jones (1963) earned five nominations in the acting categories (Joyce Redman, Albert Finney, Diane Cilento, Dame Edith Evans, Hugh Griffith), while the filmed version of Britain’s National Theatre presentation of Othello (1965) earned four (Joyce Redman as Emilia, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay). Regarding the nominations for the Othello actors,...
- 5/11/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
With the main cast returning and a villain found, the next crucial step of Taken 2‘s pre-production has been completed: getting someone for the daughter’s boyfriend. As Variety tells us, Brothers and Sisters star Luke Grimes will appear in Olivier Megaton‘s sequel as the companion of Maggie Grace‘s character, Kim. Kind of sounds like a thankless role for a young actor, right? Well, they say that he “will likely have to help her rescue her parents from the baddie’s clutches.” Not bad compared to most boyfriend parts.
The sequel follows Liam Neeson‘s Brian Mills and his family — which includes Kim (Grace) and ex-wife Lenore (Famke Jannsen) — as they attempt to escape the clutches of a man (Rade Sherbedgia) whose son was killed by Mills during the events of the original film. In this, “the tables are turned,” since Mills is now being held captive...
The sequel follows Liam Neeson‘s Brian Mills and his family — which includes Kim (Grace) and ex-wife Lenore (Famke Jannsen) — as they attempt to escape the clutches of a man (Rade Sherbedgia) whose son was killed by Mills during the events of the original film. In this, “the tables are turned,” since Mills is now being held captive...
- 11/9/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
His brother, Chris, is a bigger name in Hollywood right now, but Liam Hemsworth is doing just fine for himself. After making a name in pap like The Last Song, next year will see him in both The Hunger Games and The Expendables 2, putting him in the same realm of franchise acting that his older sibling is entrenched in at the moment.
This isn’t in that same realm, but Moviehole has learned that he’s currently negotiating to star for Phillip Noyce in Timeless. A sci-fi love story written by Enchanted‘s Bill Kelly, it follows “a young man who, haunted by unresolved issues between himself and his late wife, uses the money his wife left him to build a time-travel device so he can see her a final time.” Kind of like The Time Traveler’s Wife, seemingly minus the bizarre structure. Although Hemsworth hasn’t actually...
This isn’t in that same realm, but Moviehole has learned that he’s currently negotiating to star for Phillip Noyce in Timeless. A sci-fi love story written by Enchanted‘s Bill Kelly, it follows “a young man who, haunted by unresolved issues between himself and his late wife, uses the money his wife left him to build a time-travel device so he can see her a final time.” Kind of like The Time Traveler’s Wife, seemingly minus the bizarre structure. Although Hemsworth hasn’t actually...
- 10/14/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Update: Since the text for this story was written, Deadline have edited their story and a deal for Neeson to lead the Taken sequel this year is close. Did the actor use Mike Fleming to get himself a better deal? Wouldn’t surprise me.
Deadline is reporting that Liam Neeson may not be reprising his role as the ultimate father figure (come on if you’re kidnapped, he’s the one you want coming after you!) in the sequel to the surprise 2008 hit Taken, due to scheduling conflicts.
Writer and creator Luc Besson wants to film the picture this year, but Neeson has other plans that involve, well, doing nothing at all. Exhausted after starring in Unknown, The A-Team, Battleship and The Grey – along with supporting turns in Wrath of the Titans (now filming), The Hangover 2 and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – the guy is in need of a break!
Deadline is reporting that Liam Neeson may not be reprising his role as the ultimate father figure (come on if you’re kidnapped, he’s the one you want coming after you!) in the sequel to the surprise 2008 hit Taken, due to scheduling conflicts.
Writer and creator Luc Besson wants to film the picture this year, but Neeson has other plans that involve, well, doing nothing at all. Exhausted after starring in Unknown, The A-Team, Battleship and The Grey – along with supporting turns in Wrath of the Titans (now filming), The Hangover 2 and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – the guy is in need of a break!
- 3/17/2011
- by Sean Burton
- Obsessed with Film
I almost failed to watch this good movie. Thanks to reviews on the internet and it becoming one internet site's top 20 movies of 2008 led me to speculate and see for myself what the hype was about. And I was not disappointed. (The film is coming soon to Philippine theaters, but was already available in DVD at our local pirates.)Liam Neeson's acting was again superb, short of saying menacing. As the character Brian Mills, an ex-government operative, Neeson portarayed the figure both as an amoral cold blooded killer and a father with unwavering determination. &...
- 3/9/2009
- MoviesOnline.ca
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