It's pretty clear that people can't get enough of Liam Neeson's fearless character in the Taken franchise.

The third film opened in theaters on Jan. 9 and is expected to bring in anywhere between $35 million to $37 million in its first weekend. The action flick brought in approximately $14 million on Friday alone.

Taken 2 grossed $49.5 million in its opening weekend in 2012, while the first film grossed $24.7 million in 2009.

The first film, released in 2008, quickly became a hit with Neeson starring as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent who puts his life on the line to protect his family. Actress Famke Janssen plays Mills' ex-wife, Lenore, while Maggie Grace stars as his daughter Kim.

In the third film, Mills is being framed for the murder of his wife. To no surprise, he manages to escape from the hands of authorities, in order to find out who killed Lenore and to prevent them from getting to his daughter. FBI agent Franck Dotzler, played by Forest Whitaker, is leading the mission to apprehend Mills, but he will quickly find out how hard it is to catch him.

"Taken 3 is kind of a do or die situation for Bryan Mills. He has to rely on every possible skill he may have learned in the first two films and then some for the third," Neeson told MovieClips. "In terms of actions and thrills, this is by far the biggest Taken yet."

Neeson also explained why he believes the Taken franchise has been so successful.

"What makes Taken 3 a quintessential Taken movie, at its heart, it's still about Bryan Mills doing everything in his powers to save his family and I think that's why these films resonate with such a global audience," he said.

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