Taken was exactly the kind of massive surprise hit that almost always lends itself to a sequel, especially when the appeal of the first movie was mostly about Liam Neeson, who seems in no hurry to give up on his newfound reputation as a badass. So with Taken 2 arriving this Friday, it seems logical to assume that plans for a Taken 3 are already in the works-- after all, there's no limit of scumbags on this earth who could probably deal with a dose of Liam Neeson justice.
But in fact, both Neeson and Taken 2 director Olivier Megaton say this is probably the end of the road for Bryan Mills. "I think so," Neeson responded in an interview with last week when asked if this was the end of his story. "Unless Maggie [Grace] takes over and once in a while she calls me." As you might have noticed in previews, Grace's character Kim takes a much more active role in the action this time, not just avoiding getting kidnapped but helping out when it's her father and mother who are taken away. A franchise built around Kim wouldn't really be a surprise-- but Megaton also says that not only are there no plans, but producer Luc Besson isn't talking about a third one either:
We want to work with Liam again on another movie, and the priority is to do something else, another movie. I don't think that it will go on for Taken 3, I don't see the point. The second one, it was fine, we closed the books. Even Luc [Besson] or Robert [Mark Kamen, the screenwriter]-- if this one's a success too, maybe they're going to think about it, money is money for them. But after it will be very difficult to ask Liam to be back again. The logic of his character has ended for this one, for me.
Then again, Megaton also told me in our interview that he didn't think there was any point in making Taken 2 at first-- and as you can tell, he's been convinced. We probably won't know until we see how Taken 2 opens this weekend if this really is the final film in the series, but it is rare to see a star and director actively saying they're not planning a sequel-- especially with trilogies all the rage these days. So while nothing is guaranteed, the odds for Taken 3 are probably lower than you were expecting.
