While most everyone seemed to love watching Liam Neeson’s ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills beat European crooks to a bloody pulp in the Luc Besson-scripted Taken, there seems to be mixed feelings from fans so far as to whether or not making Taken 2 is really a good idea.
Regardless, production on the Taken sequel is set to commence later this month, on location in places like Turkey, France, and the U.S. (in Los Angeles, to be exact). Now, the film (naturally) has found its central villain – not to mention, snagged an official theatrical release date to boot.
Heat Vision has learned that Rade Šerbedžija – who is generally credited as either Rade Sherbedgia or Rade Serbedzija in Hollywood productions – is officially onboard to portray the main antagonist in Taken 2. While you may not recognize his name, Sherbedgia has played supporting roles in many tentpole projects, including: the part of Dr. Nekhorvich in Mission: Impossible II, the “homeless man” in Batman Begins, Gregorovitch in the seventh Harry Potter movie, and the Russian general in X-Men: First Class. The actor’s resume of previous roles also includes Dmitri Gredenko on 24 and Boris “The Blade” Yurinov in Snatch.
That’s all to say: Sherbedgia is an excellent choice to play the main baddie in Taken 2… especially given the film’s storyline, as detailed in the official synopsis below:
Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent with a particular set of skills who stopped at nothing to save his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from Albanian kidnappers. When the father (Sherbedgia) of one of the kidnappers swears revenge, and takes Bryan and his wife (Famke Janssen) hostage during their family vacation in Istanbul, Bryan enlists Kim to help them escape, and uses the same advanced level of special forces tactics to get his family to safety and systematically take out the kidnappers one by one.
In other words: Grace will get to become more of a capable heroine (and not just the damsel-in-distress) in the Taken sequel. That’s arguably a clever angle to take – and a fitting one too, since Besson is not a slacker when it comes to writing badass women (see: the female leads in La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element, and Colombiana). So long as he and co-scriber Robert Mark Kamen have crafted Taken 2 as a lean and mean thriller on a par with its predecessor, this could be a worthwhile followup after all.
Taken 2 helmer Olivier Megaton is more the wild card here, given that a lot of people would say he’s 0-for-2 when it comes to effectively bringing scripts co-penned by Besson and Kamen to life (see: Transporter 3 and Colombiana). We’ll just have to wait and see if third time’s the charm for Megaton.
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20th Century Fox recently slated Taken 2 for an October 5th, 2012 theatrical release in the U.S.
Source: THR
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It’s Šerbeđija, not Sherbedgia
I like the “take out the kidnappers one by one” part. Makes me eager to see Liam Neeson beat more a-holes into bloody pulps. Lol
Boris…. Is that you Boris?
He was also in Quarantine.
Taken was a awesome action movie.
Liam Nesson has become a action hero.
I think a idea for a sequel is wrong but still the plot is okay.
If the film has more action and more fight scenes done by Nesson than the first one then this might work out well.
I think Sherbedgia is a right choice for the main villain but if Dolph Lundgren was included as the main villain’s henchman then that would be great.
Nesson vs. Lundgren, that would be awesome.
I wasn’t interested in this movie until now. I love this guy, and it’s always a treat when he shows up out of nowhere (like in Batman Begins).
I love Taken but its doesnt need a sequel and the plot for this is horrible. I’m not going to see this.
Hope this is gonna be badass as the first taken
I want Pierre Morel back!!
Who goes to Istanbul for vacation??
how about someone who needs kidnapping to be a plot devise?
At least the plot actually sounds interesting, and the fact that the daughter gets in on the action might make this a hit with women like the first Taken.
‘When the father of one of the kidnappers swears revenge, and takes Bryan and his wife hostage during their family vacation in Istanbul, Bryan enlists Kim to help them escape’
can someone explain this mess to me ?
I thought Brian and his wife were divorced?
I wonder if he plays the father of that idiot that Mills electricuted. Also, as long as the director gives Neeson free reign, then the film should be fine. The main antagonist is an awesome choice, can’t wait to see this one.
I went to Istanbul on vacatio(start of a Europe trip). Was the best part of the whole trip. Wicked city, history, and all that.
Ok..you want me to explain the plot…here it goes:
They got kidnapped in Istanbul, not constantinop, in Istanbul, Not Constantinople, by a bunch of vengeful jerks, thanks to their frequent flyer perks..
I’m down for this, he was awesome in The Saint!
Interesting that both Liam and Rade were in Batman Begins.
good actor, but why did they pic a serb of all people to play a albanian?
it´s outrageous!:/
Robert Mark Kamem is making a movie where Liam Neeson is killing Albanian-muslim mob and the villain is a really nasty man with no moral played by the Serb actor Rade Sherbedgia. The movie is too political.