Luc Besson is expanding his “Taken” franchise to the TV universe.
Variety, citing Deadline, reported that NBC is using their “particular set of skills” to bring the famed action thriller film franchise to the small screen. The series will be a prequel adaptation of the movies and Besson himself will executive produce it.
The first “Taken” film, which was released in 2008, starred Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA operative on a mission to save his daughter. It was a tremendous success, earning more than USD226 million at the box office.
It also spawned 2 sequels in 2012 and 2014.
The movie is considered by many as a turning point in Neeson’s career as it transformed into one of the most popular action film stars. His phone speech from the film is one of the most famous film quotes as well:
The modern-day prequel will focus on how a young Bryan, who has no wife and kids, adopted his expert skills that allowed him to become the character as shown in the feature film.
The “Taken” prequel hails from Universal TV and Besson’s EuropaCorp. The search for a writer as well as a showrunner is currently underway. Besson, who is currently working on the film adaptation of “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets“, will executive produce it alongside Matthew Gross, Edouard de Vesinne, and Thomas Anargyros of EuropaCorp.
“Taken” won’t be the first film to be made into a TV series as The CW is currently developing a series based on “The Notebook” and “Friday the 13th“. Fox also has the TV adaptation of “Minority Report” debuting soon while CBS will air the pilot episode of “Limitless” TV series this fall.
Neeson is not involved in the project at the moment, but the person who’s to play his younger role would have some pretty big shoes to fill.
Who do you think is best fit to take on the roles in the series? Do you think the prequel series will be a success? Sound off in the comments box below.
Source: Variety.
