I'm not convinced that the Liam Neeson kidnapping thriller Taken, due during this year's annual September movie wasteland, is going to amount to much. I can't get too excited about the concept -- former superspy goes after his kidnapped daughter instead of paying ransom -- and I'm not nearly as enamored with director Pierre Morel's parkour-popularizing debut, District B13, as other folks are. But I'll say this: the speech that's the centerpiece of the film's new trailer, which you can see above, is kind of a tour de force. Casting Neeson was a masterstroke, and the fact that he took the role speaks well of him, I think.

By the way: that's a masterfully cut trailer, don't you think? Quick, exciting; maybe a bit too revealing for my tastes, but still vague enough that it doesn't (seem to) give away the whole thing. I love the way it's driven by the sound of Neeson's voice, using it to build momentum.

The movie was written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who also collaborated on the Transporter films. Besson, of course, also produced, wrote, and brought to prominence District B13.

The new international trailer for Taken has just hit the net, and I don't know about you, but I'd like to ask 20th Century Fox to please set up a domestic release date for this flick because it looks pretty damn good. I mean, heck, Liam Neeson plays a badass! That should be more than enough to get you interested in Taken, which comes to us from director Pierre Morel (whose District B13 was a fun watch). Taken stars Neeson, Maggie Grace and Holly Valance, and it revolves around an ex-soldier (Neeson) whose daughter (Grace) gets kidnapped while traveling in Paris, and his subsequent quest to find her, as well as those responsible for her disappearance.

So far, Fox has set a February 27th release date in France, but nothing here in the states. Not sure why; the film looks intense, well acted and definitely the kind of flick I could see doing well in early March before the summer madness begins. Check out the trailer above, and let us know what you think. (Personally, I've never been so afraid of Liam Neeson in my entire life. Damn. And he's the good guy!)

It looks like the casting process is moving fast and furious for Luc Besson's latest production, Taken. Moviehole reported that Australian actress Holly Valance is the latest addition to the thriller. It was only yesterday that Monika had the news that Lost's Maggie Grace had signed on for the film, so it would appear that Besson isn't wasting any time moving the movie closer toward production.

Pierre Morel is directing, and the film centers on a father (Liam Neeson) trying to find his daughter after she has been sold into slavery somewhere in Europe. Grace will star as the daughter, but there is no word on who Valance is going to play. You probably know Valance mainly for her TV work; she was on the Aussie soap Neighbours and also had a recurring role on Fox's Prison Break. So far Valance has a pretty short film resume that includes the Paris Hilton comedy Pledge This! and the jiggle-fest that was DOA ... which at least had some creative uses for lingerie. Both movies never really saw the light of day, and probably for good reason. So, even though the premise for Taken might seem a little corny, compared to some of her other films, it's a definite improvement.

The sex/slave trade continues to be on the minds of filmmakers. In the last year, we've had Transe screen at the likes of Cannes and TIFF, and Trade has been gearing up for its August 2007 release. With both films now wrapped, there's another on the horizon -- Taken. (Apparently movies with this theme need to have a one-word T-starting title in a fit of ultimate originality.) The screenplay comes from the "retired" Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen -- the man who not only brought us The Karate Kid, but has also collaborated with Besson on films like The Fifth Element and The Transporter. Similar to Trade, Taken revolves around a former spy who uses his professional skills to find his estranged daughter, who has been sold into slave trade.

Soon-to-be Lincoln actor Liam Neeson has already signed on to play the ex-spy and father, and now The Hollywood Reporter has announced that he has a daughter in Maggie Grace. If you're a fan of the show, Lost, you'll remember her as Shannon Rutherford. If not, she also starred in the recent remake of The Fog. She's also just wrapped two films that will undoubtedly push her a little further into the spotlight -- Suburban Girl with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin, and The Jane Austen Book Club with Emily Blunt and Maria Bello. The film will begin shooting this month in Paris, under the eye of Pierre Morel, who is another Transporter collaborator.

While spending some time hawking his Arthur and the Invisibles at a left-coast press junket, French filmmaker Luc Besson dropped a few juicy hints about a sequel to District B13, the truly nifty action flick that earned a limited release from Magnolia Pictures this past June. Chock-full of what's known as "parkour" martial arts, District B13 is a short, slick and very fast-paced action movie that features some dazzling physical histrionics from co-leads Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle.

No firm word on when the second District will begin, but the frantic Frenchman (who co-wrote and co-produced the first flick), seems pretty confident that it'll be sooner than later: "B13 I want to do the sequel to, I love the two characters, and there's the room to do another one. I have the idea then I think we're going to make it."

According to ComingSoon.net, Besson (who recently semi-retired from directing) is also thinking about a third Transporter entry in addition to a vague project called Taken, which will star Liam Neeson.

And if you haven't seen District B13 yet, make sure to drop it in your queue. If you dig the action stuff, I bet you'll enjoy it.

Given the success of 2003's Taken (not only was the series popular with audiences, but it also won the Emmy for outstanding miniseries), it's not exactly a surprise that Steven Spielberg and The Sci-Fi Channel have found another project on which to collaborate. This year's offering is a 12-episode miniseries called Nine Lives, and it sounds extremely disturbing. In the series, grieving people who have lost loved ones apparently pursue "near-death experiences" in a quest to be reunited with the dead, if only briefly. (And I just got chills typing that.) Wow, is that a creepy idea.

Spielberg will serve as executive producer, alongside series writer Les Bohem, who also penned Taken. No information is available yet on when the series will air, but since it's only just begun production, we probably shouldn't expect it to show up before the summer.