Liam Neeson Talks About Scary Effects Of ‘Taken’ Franchise, Almost Rejecting ‘Taken 3’ And Impending Retirement

"Taken 3" is one of the highly-anticipated films of 2015. Liam Neeson, however, thinks the film's content gives a wrong impression about Europe as a tourist spot. He also shared that he almost did not sign on to star in the film, if the film had been another plot about someone being taken and he had to do the hunting. The actor said he might retire after two more years of being an action star.

The actor claims that the whole Taken franchise put off many to the idea of choosing Europe as a travel destination. In an interview with "The Graham Norton Show," Neeson shared that the image of Europe as a safe, tourist destination took a hit after the release of the two films of the "Taken" franchise. The actor revealed that while the movie earned a great following, he personally received a lot of letters from Americans saying they're now scared to travel to Europe because of the two films, which have hostage and trafficking as their core themes. Neeson said: "Just the other day I got a letter from a school teacher in Texas who had tried to take 60 students to Europe and the families of 40 of them got the kids out of it because they had seen Taken 2." He added that things turned worse this year, saying "And then this year she wanted to take 20 of them and the parents all said, 'No, because we've seen that movie!'"

Neeson had appeared on "The Graham Norton Show" to promote "Taken 3." The actor said that he would not have agreed to do another installment of the film if the story idea was about another member of his family "Taken." He said that if the same ideas were revisited for this installment, he would not have signed on to star in the film anymore because it would be "insulting" - not just to him, but to all the audience. Fortunately, the plot of the third installment 'significantly' changed. "It's a good storyline and I'm the hunted instead of the hunter," Neeson said.

Meanwhile, the actor is said to be already considering retirement from action movies. He told Irish Independent that he's currently having a blast playing action roles, as he's an ex-boxer. However, he can envision himself retiring after two more years since he's already 62 years old now. The movie "Taken 3" is set to hit film theaters on Jan. 9.

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