After Bombing In Reviews, "Taken 3" Rules First 2015 Weekend Box Office

So Taken 3 dominated the box office this weekend... what happened there? Ok, the weekend isn’t over yet, but things are looking up for the Liam Neeson thriller. Kicking off the weekend strong with $1,5 million on Thursday, Taken 3 was at $14,7 million by Friday. That’s quite a lot more than $9.4m that the first Taken earned on its first Friday over Super Bowl weekend in 2009 and comes pretty close to the $18.358m earned by Taken 2 on its debut Friday in October 2012.

Taken 3: Here we go again.

The movie is also near the top for overall January earnings, behind Cloverfield ($17.6m in 2008) and The Devil Inside ($16.8m in 2012). So either moviegoers had a collective lapse of judgement due to seasonal affective disorder, or Liam Neeson’s name alone is enough to reel people into a terribly reviewed three-quel.

If you're still undecided about watching Taken 3, check out the trailer below.

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Or maybe people actually didn’t hate Taken 2 that much. But the third movie currently holds a 12% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while 72% of audiences claim they liked it... so there. Clearly, Taken 3 is here to stay. And by “here,” I mean on top of the box office, because it looks like Taken 3 is here to stay. Sigh.

More: Read the review for Taken 3.

More: Liam Neeson Says Taken Is to Blame for Fear of Flying

According to Box Office Mojo, Taken 3 is on track for a $40,4 million weekend. The historical drama Selma follows with $11,2 million and Into the Woods is third with $9,7 million.