Liam Neeson may be an unlikely action hero at age 60, but “Taken 2” led the box office with $50 million domestically over its opening weekend, according to estimates released yesterday.
“He gives hope to aging men,” said Paul Dergarabedian, of Hollywood.com. “He’s done the reverse of most actors, where you do the action stuff when you’re younger, then do the more introspective work when you’re older.” He’s sort of turned it around. When he’s 80, he’ll probably be kicking even more butt.”
In “Taken 2,” Neeson returns as a retired CIA agent using his expert espionage and killing skills to take on a gang of thugs out for revenge against him and his family.
“Taken 2,” which began rolling out overseas a weekend earlier, added $55 million more in about 50 international markets to raise its worldwide total to $117 million.
The previous No. 1, the animated “Hotel Transylvania,” fell to second with $26.3 million. Music tale “Pitch Perfect” was in third place, followed by “Looper” and “Frankenweenie.”