$20 million enough to get Liam Neeson to return for ‘Taken 3’

When the Olivier Megaton-directed sequel opened last year (receiving mostly negative reviews), Liam Neeson was skeptical about returning for another installment of the franchise.

Taken 2 brought in nearly $375 million worldwide against a modest budget, so the studio is high on the prospect of Taken 3.

Enough so that Neeson has had a change of heart, it would seem, as he is reportedly in talks to return for Taken 3 for a whopping $20 million.

Deadline reports that Neeson is currently in negotiations to reprise his role as Bryan Mills in Taken 3 with a salary in the vicinity of $20 million. That is a 33% pay increase from his $15 million for the second film.

20th Century Fox has 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.

Deals will now be attempted with Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen to return with an eye towards starting production in February.

Collider details how Neeson has a number of projects coming up in the near future, as he recently re-teamed with Unknown director Jaume Collet-Serra on the airplane thriller Non-Stop and he stars in Scott Frank’s thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones.  He also has a role in Paul Haggis’ dramatic ensemble Third Person, voices a character in The Lego Movie, and appears in Seth MacFarlane’s Western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West.