Taken Sequel In The Works

Posted by on March 12th, 2009   Filed under: Action, International
Source: First Showing

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?



  • swarez

    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.

  • swarez

    Just had another thought.
    If 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.

  • I 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.

  • Chopper

    i 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.

  • It 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.

  • Captain N

    I 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.

  • I 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

  • sarah

    I completely agree. Excellent movie – Way better than The Bourne trilogy. Can’t wait for the sequel!

  • imafairy

    I 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.

  • nick

    i 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.

  • kapri

    his daughter and the singer (from the first film) gets “taken” while on consert or rehursing..

  • Captcorajus

    I 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.

  • WH331M4N

    Well 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?

  • kyle

    They 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.

  • Mike

    Maybe 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

  • The 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.

  • Andy

    I 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.

  • Jay

    I 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

  • Mitchelle

    THis was the best movie ever! I dont care wat the sequel will be, I’m definetley gonna watch it

  • MICHAEL FRANCIS

    I JUST NOW ON CHRISTMAS EVE 2009, SAW THIS MOVIE ON DVD, AND IT WAS SOOOO FREAKING AWESOME!!!, AND JUST COMPLETELY WONDERFUL!!! 7 STARS!! AMAZING!! INNOVATIVE SUSPENSE!!!IT HAD ME ALMOST IN TEARS AT THE END, SHOUTING ALL THE WAY!!!, TO WHERE I HAD TO RE-WATCH THE LAST YACHT RESCUE SCENE 3 TIMES!!!TO SEE THE WAY THE DAUGHTER ACTED ONCE SHE REALISED HER DAD JUST RESCUED HER, O MY THAT WAS SO GOOD AND JUST, POWERFUL!!! YES, THE EXTENDED CUT IS WAY WAY BETTER!!! AND I WAS SOOOOOO WISHING TO SEE MORE OF THESE CHARACHTERS FOR A SEQUEL AND I DID SOME RESEARCH ON IT AND BAM!!!, LIKE AN UNBELIEVABLE DREAM, THERE IS GOING TO BE A SEQUEL!!!, AND I JUST CAN NOT BELIEVE HOW TERRIFIC THAT IS!!! FREAKIN TOTALLY AWESOME!!!LOL!!!! O YEAH!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!! AND I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH MAGGIE GRACE WHO PLAYED HIS DAUGHTER KIM!!! O I AM SO THRILLED!!! YES!!!! YES!!! THIS MOVIE REALLY WAS GOOD!!! I WILL ULTIMATELY WATCH IT AGAIN REAL SOON!! PEACE 2 U ALL!!!

  • Tangi Mai

    They left enough exposition on Taken that I knew a sequel would be in the works. I predict it will be based on either Kim’s singing career or Mr. Mills joining his colleagues on some adventure.

    It would be nice to see something other than another terrorist movie, although I know the general public disagrees with me. How about a fight against a drug cartel?

  • J.Lo

    I don’t know if anyone will see this, but here’s my $0.02:

    Liam Neeson becomes increasingly, ah… “bothered” by the fact that there are so many other daughters are in the situation his was in. The fact that today there are more slaves in the world than there have been at any other point in human history starts to piss him off and he decides to do something about it.

  • blanco

    i rekon the french dude (Neesons old work mate from paris who Neeson shot his wife), will be pissed off and go after him.

  • LazyFan

    You are all wrong. She will be ‘ReTaken’ (new title) for ransom against the girls step dad. As he asks him in the film “what about that deal with the Russians that went south?”. Thus he will have to travel to Russia of course.

  • iShemagh

    You guys also have to think that since he killed alot of those guys as it is. There might be like a Russian mafia or another Russian Crime syndicate that is willing to go after him (Liam Neeson) and attempt to kill him, maybe his daughter too. that would be a good idea for a sequel to Taken….

    Note To Self
    Quit posting good ideas on the internet…

  • Note To Self 2
    The most obvious idea is rarely the best

  • Tommy J. Williams

    Here’s my idea for the sequel:

    Why dont they have is daughter as a proffesional singer, and Liam Neelson is one of his daughters body guards. But someone tries to kill her or something and some people want to kill his daughter or something like that.

  • WhatHappened

    There’s a BIG gap between when Mills kills the Arab and saves his daughter, and when they arrive at the airport in California. How did they get off the boat, to the airport, and through security and border inspections on both ends, without any trouble from authorities or the gangs? They could make a movie just about that. I would also be happy just to watch Brian Mills busting up cartels and saving sex slaves all over the world, and possibly occasionally talking to authorities along the way, but going at it whether they help him or not.

    His French friend is clearly not going to come after him, unless through the state by attempting to prevent his leaving the country. He’s not a man of action any more and hardly even a man of principle–he will recognize that coming after Brian is a losing prospect. He could come to Brian’s help as a twist, though.

  • Taken fan

    There are some good ideas here. I like the idea that Bryan gets angry about other girls being capturd. Maybe the way that could work is have him very remorseful over teh fact that he couldn’t find Amanda in time and didn’t do anything to get her body back to her parents. Amanda’s parents could call/meet/write to Bryan berating him once they find out he found her. Or he could reciev information form some Albanian gangsters noting all the new owmen they have caught just to try to get him to come out in the open where they can get him. Liam being a total dude can’t sit idly by as he finds out about all the innocent women they;ve captured.

    Or maybe one of the dirty French cops’ children gets taken and they ask Mills for help.

    The idea that the movie could take place after the shooting of the sheik but before they return home is pretty ingenious too.