50 Fun Facts About Taken (Movie)

Which American actor was first cast as Bryan Mills in Taken (2008) before dropping out of the project?

Jeff Bridges left the role, and Liam Neeson took it because he wanted a more physically demanding part than he was used to.

What did Liam Neeson expect to happen to Taken (2008), a film he saw as a minor detour in his career?

Go straight to video was Liam Neeson's forecast for the thriller, which instead became the hit that defined the rest of his career.

Which rock band are Kim and Amanda secretly planning to follow on tour in Taken (2008)?

U2 are on tour in the story, and Bryan Mills only learns the girls' real plan as they leave, after agreeing to a simple Paris visit.

Robert Mark Kamen, co-writer of all three Taken films, created which martial-arts film franchise?

The Karate Kid is a semi-autobiographical story based on Kamen's own life, written decades before he scripted Bryan Mills's rescues.

Which animated sitcom parodied Taken by sending a daughter to Paris and giving her dad no useful skills?

Family Guy spoofed the film in the episode Leggo My Meg-O, where Meg is kidnapped in Paris and Brian and Stewie fly out to save her.

The gang that kidnaps Kim in Paris in Taken (2008) comes from which Balkan country?

Albania later answered back: a 2019 tourism campaign called Be Taken by Albania invited Liam Neeson to visit and see the country for himself.

In Taken (2008), how long does Bryan Mills have to find Kim before the trail is expected to go cold?

96 hours is the window his old colleague Sam gives him, based on how earlier abductions by the same ring played out.

What does Kim set off on rooftops so Bryan Mills can work out where he is held in Taken 2?

Grenades from her dad's equipment case do it: the sound of each blast lets him guide her towards the basement where he is zip-tied to a pipe.

Liam Neeson has said he believes Taken put some people off doing what?

Travelling to Europe is what the star thinks his thriller discouraged, since its two American teenagers are abducted soon after landing.

Where does Bryan Mills finally find and rescue Kim at the end of Taken (2008)?

On a yacht is where the chase ends: Bryan Mills fights past the bodyguards and reaches the bedroom where a sheikh holds Kim at knifepoint.

Which X-Men star plays Lenore, the ex-wife of Bryan Mills, in all three Taken films?

Famke Janssen, a Dutch former model, was already known as Jean Grey and as the Bond villain Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye.

Which Lost actress plays Kim, the kidnapped daughter of Bryan Mills, in the Taken films?

Maggie Grace had put Liam Neeson at the top of a wish list of actors to work with just two months before she was cast as his daughter.

Which future Arrow star plays Amanda, the best friend who travels to Paris with Kim, in Taken (2008)?

Katie Cassidy, daughter of entertainer David Cassidy, went on to play Laurel Lance, the Black Canary, on The CW.

What does Bryan Mills discover about Amanda when he searches the kidnappers' safehouse in Taken (2008)?

She died of an overdose before he arrived, and finding her body is what drives Bryan Mills to force Kim's whereabouts out of the gang's boss.

In Taken (2008), Amanda admits her cousins are away in which city, leaving the Paris apartment empty?

Madrid is where the cousins are, a detail Amanda hid from Kim, and telling it to a stranger named Peter marks both girls as easy targets.

Where do Kim and Amanda first meet Peter, the scout for the kidnappers, in Taken (2008)?

Charles de Gaulle Airport is the hunting ground: Peter befriends new arrivals, learns where they are staying and phones the details through.

How does Peter, the scout who marked Kim for the gang, die while fleeing Bryan Mills in Taken (2008)?

Hit by a truck mid-chase, Peter takes the only lead with him, forcing Bryan Mills to seek help from an old Paris contact.

In Taken (2008), what on Kim's broken phone lets Bryan Mills identify Peter as the gang's scout?

A photo on the handset's memory card shows Peter's face, which lets Bryan Mills catch him trying to lure another victim.

What does Bryan Mills plant on a pimp in a Paris red-light district to track the gang in Taken (2008)?

A listening device does the tracking: a hired translator tells him what the bugged gang members are saying, which leads him to a construction yard.

Which of Kim's belongings does Bryan Mills spot on a drugged woman at a building site in Taken (2008)?

Her jacket is the clue: Bryan Mills carries the woman out through a gunfight, improvises her detox in a hotel and learns of a safehouse.

What was Bryan Mills's career before he retired to reconnect with his daughter Kim in Taken (2008)?

CIA officer was his last post, after earlier service as a Green Beret, and an old agency colleague named Sam helps him trace the kidnappers.

What career does Kim, the daughter of Bryan Mills, hope to pursue in Taken (2008)?

Singer is Kim's dream, so when Bryan Mills saves the pop star Sheerah from a knife attack, her thanks is an assessment by her vocal coach.

Which Australian Neighbours actress plays Sheerah, the pop star Bryan Mills protects, in Taken (2008)?

Holly Valance left the soap in 2002 to launch a real music career, and her first single, Kiss Kiss, entered the Australian and UK charts at number one.

Whom does Bryan Mills pretend to be to enter the kidnappers' Paris safehouse in Taken (2008)?

A French police officer is his cover: he borrows the name of his contact Jean-Claude and claims he has come to renegotiate the gang's protection rate.

What was Jean-Claude Pitrel, Bryan Mills's Paris contact in Taken, before joining the National Police?

Intelligence agent was his old trade, with France's DGSE, which is how he knows Bryan Mills; the film later exposes him as corrupt.

How does Marko, the gang boss who took Kim, die after Bryan Mills interrogates him in Taken (2008)?

Electrocution ends him: Bryan Mills uses electricity to make Marko name Kim's buyer, then walks out and leaves the current running.

The most quoted scene in Taken (2008) has Bryan Mills calmly threaten the kidnappers through what?

A phone call carries the speech, which became an internet meme; Liam Neeson himself later called the scene corny.

Numerous media outlets say Taken (2008) was a turning point that redefined Liam Neeson as what?

An action star is what the thriller made him, leading to The A-Team, The Grey, Cold Pursuit and many similar roles.

Which US rating did Taken (2008) secure after about three minutes were trimmed from the film?

Rated PG-13 after the cuts, the film later reached home viewers in an Extended Edition on DVD and Blu-ray.

Which French filmmaker co-wrote and produced all three Taken films?

Luc Besson pitched the story to his director over dinner one night, a simple hook about a dad fighting to protect his daughter.

Which French director made Taken (2008) after debuting with the parkour thriller District 13?

Pierre Morel had been a director of photography before turning to directing, and followed the Paris rescue story with From Paris with Love.

Which director of Transporter 3 and Colombiana took over the series for Taken 2 and Taken 3?

Olivier Megaton, born Olivier Fontana, chose his stage name because his birthday falls 20 years to the day after the Hiroshima bombing.

Which French studio produced all three Taken films as well as the Transporter series?

EuropaCorp productions to top the US box office include Transporter 2 in 2005 and the first Bryan Mills thriller in 2009.

Which Hollywood studio released Taken (2008) in territories outside France, including the United States?

20th Century Fox handled the film beyond France and announced the first sequel in November 2010.

Taken's North American opening day set a then-record for films released on which sporting weekend?

Super Bowl weekend had never seen a bigger opening day than its $9.4 million, though a Hannah Montana concert film kept the full-weekend record.

Roughly how much did Taken (2008) gross worldwide, about nine times its production budget?

$226 million came in worldwide against a $25 million budget, with $145 million of it from North America.

On which talk show did Liam Neeson star in the spoof short Taken 4, rescuing a kidnapped dog named Paco?

Jimmy Kimmel Live aired the short in January 2015 to promote the third film, with Bryan Mills helping his old friend Guillermo.

What crime was a fake counter-terrorism expert convicted of after claiming Taken was based on his own life?

Wire fraud was the charge against William Hillar, who posed as a retired Green Beret colonel but had really been a Coast Guard radar operator.

In which city are Bryan Mills and Lenore abducted during a trip abroad in Taken 2?

Istanbul is where a three-day security job for Bryan Mills turns into a surprise family visit, then a revenge ambush.

In Taken 2, gang leader Murad wants revenge on Bryan Mills for killing which relative in Paris?

His son was Marko, the kidnapper from the first film, and Murad vows vengeance at the funeral in Tropojë.

Where does Bryan Mills tell Kim to hide when the kidnappers come for her at the hotel in Taken 2?

In the closet is the instruction he phones through as he is captured, and it works: the gunmen flee after shooting two security guards.

What does Kim drop down a chimney to her captive dad, Bryan Mills, in Taken 2?

A gun goes down the chimney after Kim follows a plume of steam to the building, and Bryan Mills uses it on the guards holding him.

What does Kim celebrate passing with milkshakes at a diner at the end of Taken 2?

Her driving test is behind her three weeks after the ordeal, and the family toast it over milkshakes with her boyfriend Jamie.

Where does Bryan Mills leave Kim for safety before going after Murad alone in Taken 2?

The US embassy is where he drops Kim after their stolen-taxi chase, before retracing his route from memory to the gang's hideout.

Which future Yellowstone star plays Jamie, the boyfriend of Kim, in Taken 2?

Luke Grimes went on to play Kayce Dutton opposite Kevin Costner on the ranch drama from 2018.

Which Oscar-winning actor plays Inspector Dotzler, the detective pursuing Bryan Mills, in Taken 3?

Forest Whitaker won his Academy Award for playing the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

What motive lies behind the killing of Lenore, for which Bryan Mills is framed, in Taken 3?

An insurance payout of $12 million is the prize: her husband Stuart owes money to a mobster and arranges the murder to collect on her policy.

Which make of sports car does Bryan Mills ram into a private plane to stop its takeoff in Taken 3?

Porsche is the badge on the mobster Malankov's car, which Bryan Mills drives to the runway under police pursuit to stop Kim being flown away.

The title of Taken 3 is sometimes stylized with the numeral 3 standing in for which letter?

E gives way to the numeral in the stylized form TAK3N, used for the third and final film of the trilogy.

Which Vikings actor took over the role of Bryan Mills for the Taken television series in 2017?

Clive Standen, who played Rollo, starred in an origin story that ran for two seasons before its cancellation in 2018.