'Taken 2' Underwhelming Detail #373: Luke Grimes is Added to the Cast

When I first looked for this picture on google, the first three images that popped up were directly comparing him with Twilight characters. This is not the man we want to see replace Liam Neeson as an action star.

Taken was one hell of a good action movie, almost entirely because of what Liam Neeson was able to bring to the relatively simple plot.  But the released details for the sequel makes one wonder if the film makers even realize that.  In addition to the (let's be frank) awful sounding plot details, little known actor Luke Grimes has been added to the cast as the love interest for retired CIA agent Bryan Mills' daughter, who actually sounds like she may end up being the main character of the film.

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Liam Neeson Taking a Look at 'Taken' Sequel

With The A-Team in theaters and presumed to be the start of a franchise, MTV asked Liam Neeson if he'll be doing any other sequels in the future, particularly more Taken movies.

The first movie was one of the biggest surprises of 2009. It had already made money overseas when it was released in the US on Super Bowl weekend last year. And it kind of exploded, certainly in terms of a early year film that isn't really driven by a movie star. Plus, it didn't cost much to make at all, so it was pure profit in the states and had a pretty healthy run into the spring. So obviously, there would be a call to follow it up. But Neeson is slightly hesitant. "It's hard to get a plot that's going to be believable," he said. "But I'm meeting with [writer-producer] Luc Besson later this month. We're going to sit down and see if we can hash it out."

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'Taken' Director Attached to Paranoid Thriller 'Signals'

There are two names you probably need to get to know in this article if you're not familiar with them already. The first is Pierre Morel, director of Taken and the upcoming From Paris With Love, which looks not nearly as good. Still, he's in demand these days and has another blood-pumping thriller called Pursuit in the works over at Universal.

The second name to file away for later is Media Rights Capital. It's a company that bankrolls movies at TV shows. This year, it's had Bruno, Shorts, The Invention of Lying, and this weekend's The Box. Bruno is probably the only real hit among that group, but MRC got in the Matt Damon business a few months ago and is producing The Adjustment Bureau for next year, plus 2011's Devil, spearheaded by Night Shyamalan. Take Morel and Media Rights Capital and throw 'em together and what do you get? Signals, a thriller MRC bought back in April and is now speeding into production. It's been described as a contemporary film that echoes "the tone of a 1970s-era paranoid thriller like Three Days of the Condor. That decade, possibly the greatest or second greatest in all of cinema, did its paranoid thrillers right, so this isn't a bad thing at all.

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'Taken' Director Finds Another 'Pursuit'

The story of Jason Howe sounds like a movie, so conveniently, it's now becoming a movie. Howe is a journalist who specializes in photos from the front lines of wars and other conflicts. His website showcases his work from Iraq, Lebanon, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, and Colombia. And just that much would probably make a stirring film. But it gets better...

Howe was working in Colombia and has since published a book of his time there called Colombia: Between the Lines. While on he job, Howe fell in love. Nothing unusual about that, except for maybe the extreme circumstance of his situation. Oh, and then it turned out the woman in question was an assassin. Man, that's a cool story (unless you're Jason Howe. Or, perhaps, one of his girlfriend's "assignments"). Now Universal is hiring Taken director Pierre Morel to make the movie, working under the title Pursuit, and he says he instantly connected to Howe and his mission. "I have been shooting still photography since I was a kid and have been fascinated by the reportage in war zones," Morel told Variety.

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'Taken' Director Is Turning Japanese

It's nearly time to take an accounting of the movies from the first half of the year, but without thinking too hard, we can all name some of the biggest hits of 2009: Paul Blart, Monsters vs. Aliens, Fast and Furious, and Taken. Of these, Taken might be the biggest surprise, both because it isn't really star driven and because of its remarkable staying power.

And while it might lead to sequels and more projects for Liam Neeson, it's also going to be a big launching pad for director Pierre Morel. A cinematographer for a bunch of years, Taken was Morel's second film as a director, and his third - the hitman flick From Paris With Love - comes out next February. And now he has signed up to direct another thriller, this one set in Tokyo. According to Variety, Paramount has picked up a movie project that sounds...uh...pretty much the damn same as Taken. Here's the pitch: "(The) story follows a CIA operative, stationed in Japan but on the verge of retirement, who is ordered to carry out a final mission. He finds himself caught in the middle of an international conspiracy." Just imagine if that international conspiracy that involved his kidnapped daughter. Then we'd have something.

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