'Taken 3' Box Office Review: Reaches No. 1 Spot; Liam Neeson's Action Thriller Beats 'Hobbit 3'

The success of the recently released 'Taken 3' has earned it the top spot in the box office as of this weekend.

The third installment to the action thriller starring Liam Neeson has raked in $41 million in 36 international territories, and has dethroned 'The Hobbit' after its three week stay at the number one spot. The movie now stands tall at No. 4, only bringing in $9.4 million.

A senior media analyst at box-office tracker Rentrak commented: "For Neeson to be at this stage in his career and be considered one of the premier action heroes is certainly unexpected, but it's really cool and lucrative. I don't think Neeson expected back in '09 that 'Taken' would take off the way it has. It's really enhanced his box-office appeal."

The actor's success in his recent roles has also made him a top candidate for competitive action roles, such as the airplane based action movie he starred in just last year, 'Non-Stop'.

According to Box Office Mojo, these are the movies that took the top 10 this weekend.

	Title	Weekend	Gross	Weeks
1	Taken 3	$40.4 million	$40.4 million	1
2	Selma	$11.2 million	$13.5 million	3
3	Into the Woods	$9.75 million	$105.3 million	3
4	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	$9.4 million	$236.5 million	4
5	Unbroken	$8.4 million	$101.6 million	3
6	The Imitation Game	$7.6 million	$40.8 million	7
7	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	$6.7 million	$99.5 million	4
8	Annie	$4.9 million	$79.4 million	4
9	The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death	$4.8 million	$22.3 million	2
10	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1	$3.75 million	$329.5 million	8

'Taken 3' faces some serious competition for its number one spot with next week's releases of Chris Hemsworth's new thriller 'Blackhat', and the new Kevin Hart comedy, 'Wedding Ringer'.