Naman Shrestha
Helmed by Pierre Morel, ‘Taken’ is a 2008 crime action thriller movie that centers upon an ex-CIA officer named Bryan Mills, portrayed by Liam Neeson, whose teen daughter named Kim and her best friend, during her vacation in Paris, get abducted by Albanian human traffickers. Forced to tap into his old skills and abilities, Bryan travels to Paris and moves heaven and earth to reach the kidnappers and make them pay for it. When it comes to ‘Taken 2,’ the 2012 movie was directed by Olivier Megaton.
Serving as the sequel to the first movie and the second installment in the ‘Taken’ trilogy, ‘Taken 2’ stars Liam Neeson in a reprising role as Bryan Miller, who takes his family to Istanbul for a vacation. But little does he know that the father of one of the men he executed in ‘Taken’ is out for revenge, and eventually, gets taken hostage along with his wife. Since the lovely and vibrant streets of Paris and the culturally rich and historical neighborhoods of Istanbul are the setting of ‘Taken’ and ‘Taken 2’ respectively, it is understandable why many of you might wonder whether or not they are filmed on location or not.
Taken and Taken 2 Filming Locations
‘Taken’ and its sequel, ‘Taken 2,’ were filmed primarily in Los Angeles County, California, with the former majorly shot in Paris, France, and the second installment in Istanbul, Turkey. While the shooting for ‘Taken’ took place between February 2007 and late May 2007, the production of ‘Taken 2’ got underway in October 2011 and wrapped up after three months, in January 2012. So, let’s navigate all the specific sites that served as production locations in the two installments!
Paris, France
Paris plays a key part in the production of both ‘Taken’ and ‘Taken 2’ as the filming unit made the most of the city’s streets and neighborhoods for shooting several pivotal sequences. But first, let’s check out the Parisian locations that feature in the first part of the film series. The airport scenes, including when Kim lands in Paris, were reportedly lensed in and around Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy-en-France, which is located 23 kilometers northeast of Paris. Moreover, the empty apartment in which Kim stays during her time in the French capital is situated at 9 Avenue d’Eylau in the 16th arrondissement, northwest of the Palais de Chaillot.
Bryan meets up with Jean-Claude at 99 Avenue des Champs-Elysées and Square du Vert-Galant at 15 Place du Pont Neuf. To continue his search for his daughter, Bryan hires a car from CarGo Location de Véhicules – La Garenne Colombes at 5 Rue Léon Maurice Nordmann in La Garenne-Colombes and questions several sex workers around Porte de Clichy, and even ends up planting a bug on one of the pimps.
Hôtel Camelia International at 3 Rue Darcet, just west of the Place de Clichy, is the hotel run by Bryan’s friend and where he takes the girl with the jacket. The scene where Bryan is monitored from a van outside the restaurant was taped around Toupary Restaurant in the Samaritaine building on Quai du Louvre. Unfortunately, the restaurant has closed its doors permanently. The protagonist is even seen atop the Gothic tower of the Church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois at 2 Place du Louvre in Paris.
The filming unit reportedly also set up camp in Epinay Studios, formerly known as Studios Eclair in Epinay-sur-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis. Consisting of two different structures, the film studio complex offers the necessary amenities to fulfill the necessities of different kinds of productions, including ‘Taken.’ Several other sites across Paris and surrounding areas were turned into film sets, including Jardins du Louvre, cloître Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois at 13 Rue des Prêtres Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, a grand mansion in Ile Saint-Louis, Rue Saint-Louis en l’Ile at Quai d’Anjou, the Pont de Sully, Quai Henri IV, and Pont des Arts, which is located opposite to the Louvre.
As for taping scenes for ‘Taken 2,’ the production team utilized the facilities of Cité du Cinéma or Studios of Paris at 20 Rue Ampère in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis. Apart from being home to nine different sound stages across 102,000 square feet, the film studio complex also consists of dressing rooms, production offices, workshops, and ample parking space, all of which are required for the production to run smoothly.
Los Angeles County, California
Just like Paris, Los Angeles County is another place that served as a primary production location for ‘Taken’ as well as ‘Taken 2.’ For instance, the apartment at 4660 Kester Avenue in Sherman Oaks doubled as Bryan’s apartment while the Fremont Mansion at 56 Fremont Place in the Hancock Park neighborhood stood in for Lenore and Kim’s luxurious residence. In ‘Taken,’ Bryan purchases a karaoke machine from Hightech Electronics at 6630 Hollywood Boulevard #B at Cherokee Avenue in Central Hollywood.
In addition, Bryan visits Valley Stores at 11418 Moorpark Street in North Hollywood to get some of his photos developed. The restaurant scene where Kim pleads with Bryan to allow her to visit Paris was shot in and around 33 Taps on Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood. The departure scene of Kim from the airport was actually taped at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 1 World Way in Los Angeles.
For ‘Taken 2,’ the cast and crew members ventured to more locations outside the city of Los Angeles, such as the Inglewood DMV Office at 621 North La Brea Avenue in Inglewood and around Malibu Farm Pier Cafe at 23000 Pacific Coast Highway Building C in the city of Malibu. They were even spotted in the Olympic Car Wash at 3554 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, taping some car wash shop scenes.
Istanbul, Turkey
In November 2011, the production team of ‘Taken 2’ traveled all the way to Istanbul, a major city situated in northwestern Turkey. They took over some parts of the Grand Bazaar, for a while, to record some pivotal sequences for the Liam Neeson starrer. Furthermore, various other exterior scenes were lensed around Profesör Sıddık Sami Onar Caddesi and Ragıp Gümüşpala Caddesi as well.
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