4. The Gunman
Apparently Sean Penn sat down to watch Liam Neeson in Taken and said: "That's what I want to do." So now the star of Mystic River and Milk has found himself reinvented as an action hero in upcoming movie The Gunman, which just happens to be directed by the likes of Pierre Morel - the guy who helmed the original (and best) Taken chapter. The Gunman doesn't look like the kind of movie that might be based on a book, but it was: the flick was adapted from the novel The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette, the plot of which features "An international operative named Martin Terrier wants out of the game, so he can settle down with his longtime love." As you can probably guess, things don't go as planned when the organisation that Terrier works for decide to pursue him across Europe. Jean-Patrick Manchette was considered to be for the foremost writer of crime thrillers throughout the '70s and '80s in France, so the source material - handled correctly - could make for great cinema. Here's hoping Sean Penn gets his wish and The Gunman hits as hard as the first Taken flick did.
Sam Hill
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
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