There are not a lot of actors in Hollywood whose presence itself on-screen exudes badassery. Liam Neeson has carved a unique niche for himself in the film industry, where directors and producers look up to him for serious roles. From Schindler’s List to Batman Begins, the actor has carefully picked feathers for his cap that are a testament to his effervescent acting abilities.
However, he often goes offbeat and picks up projects that show off a different side to his demanding presence on the silver screen, like he is about to do in his upcoming The Naked Gun Reboot.
But before we talk about the rebooted crime spoof-comedy, let’s have a look at the franchise that established Neeson as the tough-as-nails character in Hollywood. The Taken series remains one of the most beloved and successful action franchises to this day, and once the film series put a gun in Liam Neeson’s capable hands, the rest was history.
Liam Neeson And Guns Are a Match Made in Heaven
Liam Neeson has used a variety of weapons in his movies, from dazzling lightsabers in Star Wars to honed swords in The Dark Knight franchise. However, his talent truly shone bright when he took up a gun to hunt down his daughter’s kidnappers in Taken. Playing an ex-CIA operative raining hell upon criminals, Neeson cashed in major bucks for the franchise. As screenplay writer Robert Mark Kamen correctly sums it up in an interview with Uproxx:
“Liam Neeson has made a fortune doing Taken 1, 2, 3. I always kid him about it. I say, ‘Oh, where are you?’ ‘I’m in Australia.’ ‘Are you doing Taken 12?’ He figured out that he’s a great actor, but he wanted to make money. This is a money machine for him. Liam picks up a gun, and they pay him a lot of money.”
With his “very particular set of skills”, Neeson was bound to make a splash at the box office. While the movie series itself collected a total of $929,451,015 worldwide, The Commuter star earned $5 million for Taken, $15 million for Taken 2, and $20 million for Taken 3 (as per Celebrity Net Worth).
However, his upcoming venture, despite involving guns, is making him feel a bit shaky.
Liam Neeson is Nervous About The Naked Gun Reboot
Liam Neeson is best known for his solemn roles. However, he has dabbled in comedy, romance, and other genres before, such as Life’s Too Short and A Woman of Substance. He will next be seen in the upcoming The Naked Gun reboot, playing the role of Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. — originally portrayed by the late Leslie Nielsen.
Speaking to MovieWeb in a recent interview, Neeson expressed his doubts about being serious and funny at the same time:
“I’ve done a couple of, like, TV skits with Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais, but those were two minutes, three minutes tops. But I’m a bit nervous about Naked Gun, because it’s a feature film… If he tests it well, which I’m sure he will, Akiva Schafer is our writer-director. And there’s lots of funny gags, lots of funny visual gags happening at the same time while ‘serious things’ are being discussed, you know?”
Though Nielsen’s shoes are quite big to fill, especially since the late actor’s expertise was in comedy, The Marksman actor definitely has the acting chops to hit the bullseye with his razor-sharp skills. The Naked Gun, if done correctly, might just prove to be another money-making mint, standing on Liam Neeson’s strong shoulders.
The Taken franchise can be streamed on Apple TV+.
