Thriller ‘Taken’, starring Irish actor Liam Neeson (Kinsey, Michael Collins) in the lead role, ranked in at the top spot in the North American Box Office over the weekend taking in an estimated $24.6m.
Neeson plays an ex-soldier traveling Europe in the film whose daughter is kidnapped by slave traders. He faces a frantic race against time to track her down before she is sold and gone forever.
The thriller beat comedy ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ to the top spot followed by ‘The Uninvited’ in third place and ‘Hotel For Dogs’ in fourth.
The film is written by French writer/director Luc Besson (Leon, The Fifth Element) and screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen (The Transporter, The Fifth Element) and is directed by Pierre Morel (13th District).
Neeson will be seen in the Sundance winning ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’ to screen at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on 21 February 2009.
The estimated Top 10 North America Jan 30-Feb 1, 2009 are as follows:
Film (Dist)/Int'l dist/Est wkd gross/Est total to date
1 (-) Taken (Fox) EuropaCorp $24.6m | –
2 (1) Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) SPRI $14m | $83.4m
3 (-) The Uninvited (DreamWorks-Paramount) Various $10.5m | –
4 (4) Hotel For Dogs (DreamWorks-Paramount) PPI $8.7m | $48.2m
5 (3) Gran Torino (Warner Bros) WBPI/Village Roadshow $8.6m | $110.5m
6 (5) Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) Pathe Int'l $7.7m | $67.2m
7 (2) Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (Sony) SPRI $7.2m | $32.8m
8 (-) New In Town (Lionsgate) Mandate Int'l $6.8m | –
9 (6) My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) Mandate Int'l $4.2m | $44.6m
10 (7) Inkheart (Warner Bros) NLI $3.7m | $12.8m
Source Screen International.
