Pierre Morel’s 2008 cult actioner Taken really is the gift that keeps on giving for Liam Neeson. Barely a week has passed since we brought you the news that the Northern Irish acting vet signed on to topline Ruben Fleischer’s action-comedy The Revenger, and Deadline reports that Neeson is now on the cusp of joining another genre piece in the form of The Commuter.
Remaining in the wheelhouse of one-word action titles for the time being, the actor’s latest venture is to be scripted by Byron Willinger and Phil de Blasi, placing Neeson in the shoes of an unassuming businessman looking to make ends meet in New York City when, suddenly, he’s caught up in the middle of a criminal conspiracy. If you’re a fan of the star’s renaissance as a bona fide action star, you can probably guess where we’re heading with this one.
Neeson will be supported by a lot of familiar faces behind the camera for this outing, as Deadline notes that StudioCanal is financing the feature with Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman of The Picture Company attached to produce. If those names sound familiar to you, they should; both have worked with the actor in the past on Unknown and airborne thriller Non-Stop.
Billed as a suspense-thriller, we can’t help but feel that The Commuter will be a by-the-numbers affair for Neeson now that the actor has established his presence in the sub-genre of unlikely action heroes. No word yet on a director, but with a start date penciled in for spring of next year, we expect to hear more before long.
Production is due to swing into motion on The Commuter come early 2016. Ol’ Neeson, the action veteran that he now is, can next be seen in the Martin Scorsese-directed Silence.