Producer says ‘Taken 3’ not about Liam Neeson or family, ‘best of the three’

Producer Luc Besson previewed the new Taken film, admitting that the thriller is vstly different that the first two films. In fact, Taken 3 will not have anything to do with Liam Neeson’s Brian or his family.

“It’s different, but it’s very good. It’s probably the best of the three for me, in terms of the script. The first one was really not pretentious. It was a small film. We were surprised by the success of it because it was honest. Liam [Neeson] was not a super kick-ass actor.”

The first two films centered on his daughter and wife being kidnapped, but Besson , who co-wrote the script with Robert Mark Kamen for the follow-up to 2012’s film, insists the success of the 2008 original came as a surprise and they weren’t expecting it to be as well received as it had been.

Besson explained to Collider. “[‘Taken 3’] is shooting right now. Taken 1 and 2 is, in fact, the same film in two parts.

“The first act, someone is taken, and the second act is that revenge. You can see the films back to back and they go together. The third film is another story that has nothing to do with him and his family. No one is taken. The dog is not taken. It’s another story with the same characters.”

 Director Olivier Megaton returns to direct the sequel with Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen are set to reprise their roles as Neeson’s daughter and wife. Forest Whitaker will be joining as well with Jonny Weston the newest addition to the cast as Grace’s boyfriend.

Taken 3 opens in theaters January 9, 2015.

Liam Neeson Taken 2 photo