Hollywood actor Liam Neeson is one of the most recognized and highest-paid celebrities. He has worked in action movie prolific franchises and earned millions via his performances.
Liam Neeson appeared in the hit franchises ‘Star Wars‘ and ‘The Dark Knight‘ trilogy, but his portrayal of ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills in the ‘Taken‘ franchise earned him tremendous fame.
The ‘Batman Begins‘ star turned into an action star following the success of ‘Taken‘, and made fortunes by working in the genre.
Robert Mark Kamen, the brains behind the franchise, said production houses pay millions to Liam Neeson just for “picking up a gun” in an interview.
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“Liam Neeson has made a fortune doing Taken 1, 2, 3,” Robert Mark Kamen said.
“I always kid him about it. I say, ‘Oh, where are you?’ ‘I’m in Australia.’
‘Are you doing Taken 12?’ He figured out that he’s a great actor, but he wanted to make money.
“This is a money machine for him. Liam picks up a gun, and they pay him a lot of money.”
The actor initially earned $5 million for the first movie.
His role increased, and so did the salary, after its massive success at the Box Office.
He earned $15 million and $20 million from ‘Taken 2‘ and ‘Taken 3‘ respectively.
His total earning from the franchise was $40 million.
The actor admitted that he had no idea that his success in the franchise would open the door for him to work in other action films.
“I had no idea that it would lead onto other films and other action scripts.
They started sending me action scripts and you’d see ‘Leading man, age 37’ crossed out and ‘late 40s, early 50s’ written in instead [laughs].
I feel very privileged, and a little bit guilty,” he said.
Liam Neeson added, “I’m having fight scenes with guys half my age and I just can’t stop laughing.
It’s just so silly on one level and great fun on another.”
