Liam Neeson Latest to Be Drafted into Peter Berg’s Battleship

It looks like all that action and ass-kicking in Taken might have knocked a screw loose in the head of Liam Neeson. After having some fun in the surprise action hit, Neeson seems to have taken a liking to senseless action with recent roles in blockbusters like A-Team and Clash of the Titans. Now it looks like we can add another one to the list as Deadline reports Neeson has joined the ranks of Peter Berg’s nautical board game adaptation Battleship. With a strange cast that already includes Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgaard and chart-topping singer Rihanna, many are already anticipating this will sink at the summer 2012 box office.

As we discussed back in August, this film is a huge risk for Universal as they’re dropping roughly over $200 million on it. That’s a hell of an undertaking for a studio whose only movie that has exceeded any box office expectations this year (so far) was Despicable Me (though Scott Pilgrim vs. The World should’ve succeeded as well). Not only is there a risk of a tired audience sick of toy and board game adaptations making their way to theaters, but I don’t think there are many people who believe that Battleship can be turned into a decent summer blockbuster. Even if it does turn out well, it’s ridiculous that it couldn’t stand on its own without the brand recognition from the board game, but of course that’s Hollywood (and specifically Universal) for you.

The project is now shooting in Hawaii and will see Nesson playing Admiral Shane, the Naval officer whose daughter (played by Brooklyn Decker) is engaged to a young naval officer (Kitsch). Meanwhile, Skarsgaard plays Kitsch’s older brother, while Rihanna plays Kitsch’s crew mate and a weapons specialist (yeah, that’s believable). All of the characters have some role in a story that follows an international fleet of battleships coming together to fight a water-bound armada of an otherworldly origin. As far as Neeson’s casting goes, I wish he would take on more roles like his turns in Chloe or Five Minutes in Heaven rather than yet another ridiculous action film like this. Are you guys any more interested with Liam Neeson in this cast?