Liam Neeson’s latest film has taken in millions of dollars in its opening weekend – despite the furore over his admission that he once went out looking to kill a black man.
Neeson had made the confession while promoting revenge action thriller Cold Pursuit, saying that he had once roamed the streets with a cosh looking for any random ‘black b******’ to kill after someone close to him had been raped.
The remarks sparked an enormous backlash against Neeson, yet the film still attracted a healthy audience since opening in the US on Friday.
Liam Neeson arrives at the premiere of 'Widows' at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, in September 2018
On that day alone it took $3.6 million, and is currently No 3 at the box office.
Cold Pursuit is tipped to take in just over $10 million in its opening weekend, according to expert industry forecasts.
The figures have confounded the view of some commentators who believed the row would turn the thriller into box-office poison and bring an abrupt halt to the career of Neeson, whose previous credits include Taken and Schindler’s List.
Last night, Cold Pursuit director Hans Petter Moland praised Neeson’s honesty calling him ‘a very decent, grounded man’.
The film will be released in the UK on February 22.
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