Liam Neeson is set to star in Peter Berg’s upcoming and currently filming movie Battleship, which will be more or less based on the popular game that shares the same name. According to Deadline, he will play Admiral Shane, the father of Brooklyn Decker’s character. He will star alongside Taylor Kitsch (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Alexander Skarsgard (TV’s True Blood), and pop singer Rihanna in her feature-length debut.
The casting of Neeson is somewhat unique. It seems odd to think that he would agree to be in film that is as potentially disastrous as this one, but he has appeared in other action-oriented films lately such as Clash of the Titans and The A-Team since his reemergence to fame in 2008’s sleeper hit Taken. Granted, both of those films didn’t sound terrible on paper like this one does: the synopsis involves a ship fleet at war with an armada of "unknown origins," which is code for aliens.
It would make sense if in hiring Neeson, Universal is trying to boost the box-office draw of a film reportedly budgeted at $150 million. Decker, Skarsgaard and Kitsch are unknowns, (Skarsgaard in the film world) and Rihanna doesn't have any film experience. Neeson is the exact opposite and could prove beneficial to this film’s financial success.