Just as the cast of Taken 3 starts coming together, the news has emerged that there's even more Bryan Mills headkickery in the works. This is a bit different though: the project just announced is a "Naked Gun style" spoof, currently called **Tooken.
The screenplay is by John Asher and Cameron Van Hoy, with Asher set to direct. Asher previously made the indie comedies Somebody Marry Me and Who The F Is Buddy Applebaum, and the low-budget horror Wreckage. As an actor, he played the young Donald Sutherland in Space Cowboys, and took the Anthony Michael Hall role in the TV series of Weird Science.
Van Hoy, meanwhile, produced, wrote and acted in something called Sharkproof with Jon Lovitz in 2012, and Treasure Of The Black Jaguar in 2010. Interestingly, he's also behind the spoof short film Taken 3: Back To Normal, which we can possibly now view as some sort of Tooken proof of concept.
Whether Tooken will similarly involve Mills randomly employing his particular set of skills in mundane situations remains to be seen. Deadline describe it as "taking particular aim at Taken", which does imply a more scattershot approach that also has other films in its sights.
It may, however, find itself forced into a name change, since it currently shares a moniker with Tina Fey's new NBC comedy series.
You might feel that **Taken already **spoofs itself, and you wouldn't be far wrong. But, hey, at least it's not or Friedberg & Seltzer: maybe this will be more Airplane! than Meet The Spartans. Shooting starts in the summer, and casting is underway now.