Taken 2 is in development

In amongst some other news Variety mention that Taken 2 is in development.

EuropaCorp founder Luc Besson announced that the company has entered the TV production biz at a Paris presentation of annual results.

It has also initiated development on "Taken 2," the follow-up to the Liam Neeson starrer that has grossed $145 million in the U.S.

That is all it says on the matter so no mention if it will have Liam Neeson or director Pierre Norel returning.

I hope they both return as the first one was a great surprise when I saw it. I can't see Neeson's daughter being kidnapped again so I'm not sure what the story could be. Maybe Holly Valance's character is taken or Neeson heads off to try and bring down the kidnapping ring?

What story do you want to see in the sequel?

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UPDATED: From Paris with Love - What the director of Taken did next

Taken was an excellent film. One of my recent favourites. Liam Neeson was brilliant and it was non-stop action all the way. Pierre Morel was the man at the wheel and his next film sounds like it could have some excellent action scenes. Plus the poster is a great design and actually puts me in mind of the first volume of The Umbrella Academy comic by Gerard Way.

From Paris with Love stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Travolta plays a crazy American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in Paris, while Rhys Meyers plays a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador who meets up with him.

The only problem I have is with the cast. Travolta can be good, but he's been coasting and shouting an awful lot in recent movies. If he can bring his Pulp Fiction cool then he'll be okay. JRM is a different matter. I personally don't really rate him, but I think that could be more to do with some dreadful aftershave adverts he has been in lately.

We shall have to wait and see.

UPDATE: Thanks to Tsukpo for sending me the link to the trailer. What do you think of it?

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Megan Fox as Buffy - Dwayne Johnson as Commando

Cinefools has reported on a couple of rumours.

The first is that Megan Fox is being considered for the title role in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot that I mentioned a while back.

At the time of that news stories I sent Megan a quick Tweet asking if she was interested in playing the part and her response was in the negative.

Going with that and the fact it is still early days in this Buffy stories I would say that there is not much truth in the rumour.

Who else would you like to see as a new Buffy?

The second rumour is to do with the Commando remake. Cinefool's source says that Dwayne Johnson (Doom, Race to Witch Mountain) is the favourite to play the lead in the film that is in early development.

Not a bad choice for the role in my opinion but the plot of Commando was recently updated in the excellent Taken starring Liam Neeson.

How do you feel about The Rock as Commando?

Again I'll stress that these are both rumours.

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Kicking Ass with Liam Neeson

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Odysseus will find you and will kill you.

Warner Bros. Pictures has picked up the sword-and-sandal actioneer Odysseus according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Utilising the character from Homer's 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey', the story seems to skip almost all of the events of 'The Odyssey' which followed the journey home from Troy of the famed king of Ithaca - That means no Circe, no Cyclops, no Sirens etc.

In this incarnation the story begins upon his arrival home, only to discover it is under the brutal occupation of an invading force. He single-handedly defeats every last man and takes back his wife, his son and his kingdom.

That makes it sound like a cross between Taken, Die Hard, 300, Rambo and Point Blank. Actually Liam Neeson would make an excellent Odysseus.

Ann Peacock penned the script and Jonathan Liebesman is attached to direct once he wraps work on "Battle: Los Angeles". Gianni Nunnari is producing.

George Miller and Brad Pitt are also developing a futuristic outer space version of 'The Odyssey' for the studio that I mentioned back in October last year.

Who do you think would be good to play the hero Odysseus? Do you like the idea of using this part of the tale for a film?

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Holy Zeus' beard! Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes join Clash of the Titans

Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes will play warring gods in Warner Bros. and Legendary's "Clash of the Titans," the Greek-god epic directed by Louis Leterrier.

Neeson is playing Zeus, the wise yet sometimes ill-tempered king of the gods and father of Perseus (Sam Worthington).

Fiennes will play Hades, ruler of the underworld who aims to overtake Zeus and rule over all. Fiennes' deal is in still in negotiations.

The two actors join Mads Mikkelsen, Gemma Arterton and Alexa Davalos in the production, which begins shooting later this month in the U.K.

Legendary is co-producing and co-financing the pic. Thunder Road's Basil Iwanyk is producing with Kevin de la Noy. Jon Jashni and Thomas Tull are executive producing.

The deal marks Neeson's first since the tragic death of his wife, Natasha Richardson. The deal was initiated before her death. His film "Taken," released earlier this year, has proven to be a surprise hit, earning almost $140 million domestically.

Fiennes last starred in "The Reader."

Neeson as Zeus is a brilliant idea. Fiennes just has to bring his Voldermort attire and he's sorted.

Source: THR

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine has leaked onto the Web.

Pity the poor mutant known as Wolverine. He gets adamantium painfully bonded to his skeleton, his memory ripped to shreds, there is never a time to rest due to the numerous appearances in pretty much every comic book going. Things were looking up with his very own film X-Men Origins: Wolverine where the man known as Hugh Jackman would portray him through the years. Sure there were lots of other mutants involved with the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool getting the spotlight in recent months, but at least it would mean people would get to see the old Canucklehead on the big screen.

Yep, things were looking up...until some blurt leaked a near DVD quality workprint of the film online. A month before the release date. That is quite a major security leak.

Now at first you may be thinking, "Cool, go, go, gadget BitComet!" However, think about it. Almost the completed version, minus a few effects here and a lack of reshoots there (the 106 minute runtime is almost 20 minutes shorter than the final cut), has been leaked onto the web and it looks like it will be a tough one to trace. If you are a fan of Wolverine and comic book movies then you want to see it as soon as possible, yet if we all go around downloading it (which we all know is illegal) and watching it then this could have a major knock on effect at the box office which could result in no sequel as the first did not make enough money.

That is a worst case scenario. As it is not the finished cut it could also result in bad word of mouth which again impacts the box office.

On the other hand, films like Taken, that have been out over here for months, make their way online yet the their box office take in the US is still nice and healthy.

It is a tricky one isn't it. For me, I want to see the Wolverine film on the big screen with the full cut. Even if it is not a great film, going to see it at the cinema makes it more likely that we will see a sequel (hopefully set in Japan or showing that Mark Millar storyline when Logan is brainwashed by HYDRA and attacks the heroes) and, even better, a proper Deadpool film.

What do you think of the leak? Will it have a negative impact on the box office?

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Watchmen drops while Witch Mountain Races ahead

	Title	This Week	Total	Last Week
1	Race to Witch Mountain	$25,000,000	$25,000,000	NA
2	Watchmen	$18,070,000	$86,005,000	#1
3	Last House on the Left	$14,658,000	$14,658,000	NA
4	Taken	$6,650,000	$126,833,000	#3
5	Madea Goes to Jail	$5,130,000	$83,209,000	#2
6	Slumdog Millionaire	$5,025,000	$132,625,000	#5
7	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$3,100,000	$137,767,000	#4
8	He’s Just Not That Into You	$2,905,000	$89,004,000	#6
9	Coraline	$2,655,000	$69,144,000	#7
10	Miss March	$2,350,00	$2,350,000	NA

In the second week of it being open Watchmen has dropped to second place in the US and Dwayne Johnson's Race to Witch Mountain has taken the top spot. Watchmen's takings have dropped by 67% which is not good, but it's still taken a fair few million.

I am just so surprised that Paul Blart: Mall Cop is still in the top 10. It makes no sense that a straight to DVD type of film should be doing that well, but what do I know.

Taken has become the first film since The Dark Knight to have seven consecutive weeks in the top five. I really must get round to watching Liam Neeson's latest film as it has been out on DVD over here for ages.

Did you expect Watchmen to drop so much so soon? What are your theories for Paul Blart's popularity?

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Michael Caine is The Equalizer...I mean Harry Brown

Empire had these first couple of photos of Michael Caine as the titular Harry Brown. Directed by Daniel Barber it also stars Emily Mortimer and Liam Cunningham.

The shots make Caine look a lot like Ewar Woowar (that's Edward Woodward without the D's!) from The Equaliser, but that's just my opinion.

Harry Brown is an ex-Marine and widow forced to journey through a seedy world of drugs and guns to take revenge for the brutal death of his best friend at the hands of a gang of thugs.It is being described as a mix between Get Carter, Gran Torino and Taken. It all sounds like good stuff.

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Posters - Taken, Step Brothers, Mirrors, I.O.U.S.A., Appaloosa, A Girl Cut in Two

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