File this under a sequel we never needed.
Liam Neeson is set to reprise his role as a truck driver turned rescue worker from 2021’s “The Ice Road.” Director Jonathan Hensleigh (writer of “Armageddon” and “Jumanji”) is back at the helm.
The film is actually titled “The Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky” and will relocate its story from Canada in the original to Nepal in the sequel. Filming is set to begin this month in Australia.
2021’s “The Ice Road,” released via Netflix, garnered tepid reviews from critics — 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and 42 on Metacritic — but there must have been some kind of demand for it, right? There’s no other reason for this to be greenlit. Amazon is backing the sequel.
I’ve defended Neeson many times over the years, but is there anything to defend here?
Ever since “Taken” the Irish-born actor has been going down the Nic Cage B-movie route and has starred in his own brand of revenge-styled thrillers, the list speaks for itself: “Taken,” “Taken 2,” “Taken 3,” “The A-Team,” “Unknown,” “The Grey,” “Non-Stop,” “Run All Night,” “A Walk Among Tombstones,” “The Honest Thief,” “The Commuter,” “The Marksman.”
That’s a lot of action-revenge flicks. Of course, he had the time, amidst this chaotic schedule, to have supporting turns in Martin Scorsese’s “Silence,” and Steve McQueen’s “Widows,” but Neeson has turned into a bonafide easy pay-day conglomerate.
Ironically, he’s actually turned into one of the most popular movie stars in the world because of this. As Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro mentioned, Neeson’s audience stretches far beyond the States and into global territory.
Neeson is in Nicolas Cage land now — in fact, he’s been here for quite a while — where all of these pics have run their course stateside, and are financially structured for overseas audiences” — i.e., Asian, Indian --and Middle-Eastern sophisticates.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.