THE ALL NIGHTER, a script sold on spec back in January that is just now moving forward, is looking to shake up the Liam Neeson Action Formula. Yes it will give him a set of badass skills, and yes it will give him a child that is threatened by organized crime. BUT – and this is the kicker – it will have him drag that child away from danger before they can be taken.
“The story follows an aging hit man who, in order to protect his wife and son, must take on his former boss in a single night. He then winds up on the run from the mob and the authorities with his estranged son.” The other title being bandied about for the script is RUN ALL NIGHT, and either way the plot doesn’t sound all too far removed from ROAD TO PERDITION. I’m sure that the modernity and the sons age will put enough of a spin to differentiate the two products in my mind, but PERDITION is what I thought of the moment I first heard this news.
What’s actually got me most curious about this plot is the question of what happens to force the hit man to go on the run with his son to begin with. Does his family learn something they shouldn’t? Does he botch a job? At what stage of Neeson Season are we in exactly? Hopefully all of these questions and more will be answered in relatively short order if and when Neeson officially signs on and the pre-production ball gets rolling.
Neeson is currently filming NON-STOP for director Juame Collet-Serra (UNKNOWN).