17 Years Ago Today, This $226M Action Thriller Changed Its Star’s Career Forever (& We’re Still Happy About It)

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I’ve always thought of January as a bit of a cinematic wasteland, honestly. It usually fills up with cheap horror flicks – though this year’s been surprisingly good in that department! – and big, expensive movies studios don’t have much hope for, like Dolittle. You also get those mid-range action films that are perfectly enjoyable in the moment, but you quickly forget about, like Greenland 2: Migration. But then, every once in a while, something special comes along – a Cloverfield, for example. A movie that feels like a true summer blockbuster, grabbing your attention immediately and holding it, steadily drawing audiences in week after week.

The movie Taken was similar to Cloverfield in that it helped launch an artist’s career. However, the director of Taken was already successful in other types of films. Essentially, Taken represented a significant shift in his creative focus, a new direction for his work.

How Did Taken Mark a Shift in Liam Neeson’s Career Trajectory?

The film Taken earned $226.8 million at the box office, despite costing only $25 million to make – a huge success! Surprisingly, this was largely a French production, not an American one, and it actually performed better in the U.S. than anywhere else, which is unusual. While the movie is in English, it was created by French filmmakers and financed by French companies.

However, the trailer showcasing its unique abilities was a big hit with viewers. This generated excitement before the film’s release, and it earned $24.7 million during its opening weekend in January 2009. Even better, it continued to perform well in February and March with only slight declines in ticket sales, remaining in many theaters.

While Liam Neeson had appeared in action-oriented films before – including titles like Excalibur, Krull, The Bounty, The Mission, The Dead Pool, Next of Kin, Darkman, Rob Roy, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Gangs of New York, Kingdom of Heaven, and Batman Begins, as well as Seraphim Falls – he often played a supporting role in the action sequences. It was with Taken that he truly became known as an action star.

Although Liam Neeson had action roles in films like The A-Team and Clash of the Titans in 2010, those were big, ensemble movies. It wasn’t until 2011, with the success of the moderately-budgeted action film Taken, that he started consistently appearing in similar roles, a trend that continued into the mid-2020s.

Liam Neeson’s action films have had their ups and downs. 2011 wasn’t memorable, while 2012 brought both The Grey and a disappointing Taken 2. 2014 included Non-Stop and A Walk Among the Tombstones, alongside another lackluster Taken 3. He starred in Run All Night in 2015 and The Commuter in 2018. While Cold Pursuit was a high point, the quality of his action movies generally declined after that. The Marksman and The Ice Road are decent, but films like Honest Thief, Blacklight, Memory, Retribution, Absolution, and Ice Road: Vengeance aren’t very strong. However, In the Land of Saints and Sinners might be worth watching.

Liam Neeson has mentioned wanting to do fewer physically demanding action movies, but he currently has two more planned: The Mongoose and Hotel Tehran. It remains to be seen if these will be his last films in the action genre.

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2026-01-30 18:15