Liam Neeson Is in Talks to Join the Cast of the 'Men in Black' Spinoff
Liam Neeson is in talks to be part of Sony's "Men in Black" spinoff.
Variety revealed that the "The Chronicles of Narnia" movie franchise star could possibly join Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson in the upcoming spinoff for the sci-fi action comedy film franchise.
According to the report, the 65-year-old Irish actor is set to portray the role of the head of the UK branch of the Men in Black secret agency. He will be the British counterpart of Rip Torn's character Agent Zed in the original series.
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If the deal will push through, Neeson will have a change of pace compared to his previous action-packed roles such as the former CIA agent Bryan Mills on "Taken," as well as ex-police officer Michael MacCauley on "The Commuter."
The upcoming "Men in Black" spinoff will be helmed by "Fate of the Furious" director F. Gary Gray, and the script will be written by Matt Holloway and Art Marcum from the "Iron Man" fame.
Meanwhile, details about the roles that will be portrayed by Hemsworth and Thompson remains under wraps. But they will not be portraying the same role that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones played in the first "Men in Black" trilogy. Both actors are also not expected to appear in the planned spinoff.
However, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the plot of the new film will be set in the same universe as the original movies.
The "Men in Black" movie franchise began in 1997, featuring the adventures of Agent J (Smith) and Agent K (Jones) as they fight against the illegal alien activities on Earth. The first film received worldwide critical and box office success and was able to gross more than $589 million.
The second film was released in 2002. While it did not receive the same critical success as the first film, it managed to gross over $441 million all over the world. On the other hand, the third film under the "Men in Black" franchise became the biggest hit among the movie series. It received positive reviews and earned more than $624 million worldwide. This brought back both Smith and Jones in the franchise.
Aside from the planned spin-off that is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2019, Sony Pictures is also reportedly planning a fourth "Men in Black" film where the original actors will reunite once again for another set of adventures.
But in a 2012 interview, franchise director Barry Sonnenfeld said that Smith would want to bring his son Jaden Smith in the next movie if a fourth "Men in Black" will push through.
"Will's kind of really smart, but as I said, kind of really annoying, too much energy," Sonnenfeld said during that time. "When he would get too rambunctious, I would tell him that for 'Men in Black 4,' Will is out and [his son] Jaden Smith is in. ... If we continue on this path, it won't be released until 2032 but it will be damn good," he added.
Sony has yet to reveal more information about their plans for the franchise.
