03/10/2012 - Luc Besson’s company has released the second instalment of the blockbuster starring Liam Neeson, while Le Pacte is hedging its bets on Matteo Garrone’s Reality

The first instalment was a hit worldwide in 2008 with €174m in box office receipts. Now, loyal to its strategy of releasing series of action films in English, Europacorp is back again with Olivier Megaton's Taken 2 [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile]. Distributed today in 543 cinemas across France and programmed to be released on all continents over the next two weeks, the film is to recount the Istanbul misadventures of former CIA agent Bryan Mills (Irish actor Liam Neeson) as he takes on Croatian actor Rade Serbedzija in the role of the baddie. (The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson.) The production was made on a budget of €37.11m, notably from co-productions by M6 Films and Grive Production, and a pre-acquisition by Canal+.

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Four other French productions are also out, including Michel Ocelot’s animation film Kirikou, le hommes et les femmes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (read more - StudioCanal on about 600 copies), Yvan Attal’s Do Not Disturb [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (unveiled in Toronto with the director and François Cluzet in the cast - read the review - UGC in 250 cinemas), Marc Fitoussi’s amusing Pauline détective [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (with Sandrine Kiberlain - article - Haut et Court in 154 cinemas) and Eric Atlan’s metaphysical thriller Mortem [+see also:
trailer
film profile], that has won up to 18 awards at international film festivals (distribution: Owls Agency in 12 cinemas).

Three brilliant titles are also out straight from the last Cannes Film Festival: Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Reality [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile], which won the Grand Prix in Cannes (Le Pacte in 145 cinemas), Michel Franco’s After Lucia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a Mexican-French co-production that won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the festival (review - Bac Films in 50 cinemas), and Spanish director Jaime Rosales’s Dream and Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaime Rosales
film profile], discovered at the Directors’ Fortnight (Bodega Filmsin nine cinemas). Other European releases this Wednesday include English filmmaker Stuart Hazeldine’s Exam [+see also:
trailer
film profile], that was notably nominated for a 2010 Bafta for best first film (Atypik Films).

(Translated from French)