‘Cold Pursuit’ scores worst opening for a Liam Neeson action movie in nearly 30 years

Ouch.

Cold Pursuit has opened to a poor showing at the Box Office, following controversial comments by star Liam Neeson.

The actor faced widespread outrage last week, after recalling how he used to walk the streets with a cosh in a bid to kill the “black bastard” who raped his friend over 40 years ago.

Now,The Wrap reports that the action movie opened to an estimated $10.8 million in the US last weekend. It is the worst opening for any movie starring Neeson since 2010, when The Next Three Days opened to a meagre $6.5m.

Despite the controversy, cinema experts had reportedly estimated that the film would open to $7-10m before Neeson made the controversial comments last week.

Spike Lee
Liam Neeson

It’s also Neeson’s worst-performing action movie since he starred in 1990 superhero flick Darkman, which opened to $8m and ended up making $48m worldwide.

Yesterday, legendary director Spike Lee admitted that Neeson’s comments had made him think twice about hiring him in an upcoming film.

“I don’t know why he did it but he did it so he’s going through it now,” he said. “I don’t understand what he was doing. It’s a crazy, crazy, bizarre world we live in,” said Lee.

Neeson’s comments were made while he was promoting the new film. In it, he plays a snowplow driver seeking revenge on drug dealers he thinks are responsible for his son’s death. The New York premiere for the movie was pulled hours before it was due to start as his remarks continued to attract controversy.

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