The "Taken" trilogy might be given a breath of life as there are talks of a TV adaptation prequel of the franchise.
Hit action movie trilogy "Taken" starred Liam Neeson who plays the role of a former government operative might have already ended with "Taken 3." However, The Wrap has learned that NBC has made a "straight-to-series" order of the franchise which will feature a younger version of Neeson's character, Bryan Mills, as he develops his "very particular set of skills" that was exhibited in the three movie installments of "Taken."
The report also mentioned that the story will revolve way before Mills (Neeson) was married or had children, hinting that the storyline could possibly revolve around Mills' CIA days.
The Wrap cited that Universal Television will produce the TV series together with EuropaCorp, a production company that is owned by "Taken" Screenwriter and producer Luc Besson.
It specifically added that Besson as well EuropaCorp Television U.S. president Matthew Gross and EuropaCorp Television co-chairs Edouard de Vesinne and Thomas Anargyros will take the helm as executive producers.
Nonetheless, there is still no one tagged to be the writer and/or showrunner for the planned TV series prequel for the movie.
"Taken" trilogy features Bryan Mills as an ex-CIA agent. The first movie, released in 2008, saw Mills flying to Europe to save his daughter who was kidnapped by human trafficking syndicate. This was followed by the 2012 movie where Mills and his wife were kidnapped in Istanbul by the father of one of the kidnappers he killed rescuing his daughter.
The third movie installment, which saw a January 2015 release in the U.S., meanwhile, features Mills as he tries to find the real culprit of the murder that is being blamed to him.
Screen Rant pointed that this is not the first time that a movie's prequel is adapted into a TV series as it already happened to the short-lived and unsuccessful "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles." The entertainment news site cited that the said TV-series prequel of the "Indiana Jones" movies is just like the plan for "Taken" TV series that will show a younger version of the protagonist.
However, the website also cited that it is still too early to compare given that no specific details about the storyline are provided. It also takes into consideration the fact that the latest expansion for the "Taken" franchise is a no-brainer for EuropaCorp since the last version of the movie -- "Taken 3" -- raked in over $300 million worldwide on a $48 million budget.
As of present time, there are not yet any reported filming or release dates for the "Taken" TV prequel.