Will We Ever Get The Commuter 2?
Before breaking into blockbusters with Disney's recent adventure film "Jungle Cruise," director Jaume Collet-Serra teamed up with award-winning actor turned veteran action star Liam Neeson for several high concept action thrillers. These included "Unknown," "Non-Stop," "Run All Night," and most recently 2018's "The Commuter."
"The Commuter" features Neeson as Michael, a cop turned insurance agent and family man who has just lost his job. As Michael takes his regular train trip through the Hudson Line, a mysterious woman, Joanna (Vera Farmiga), takes a seat next to him and offers him a proposition. If Michael can find "Prynne," an otherwise unidentified thief and passenger on the train, he'll be paid $100,000 in cash. However, Michael suspects something is off about the deal, and he's quickly plunged into a dangerous conspiracy.
Like Collet-Serra's previous films with Neeson, "The Commuter" made back its budget many times over (via Box Office Mojo), even if critics gave it mixed reviews. Will Neeson ever reprise his role for "The Commuter 2?"
A Commuter sequel seems unlikely
So far, nothing has been announced about a second "Commuter" film with Neeson reprising his role. And there are various reasons why "The Commuter," despite being commercially successful, hasn't spawned a second installment almost a half decade later.
One factor is that Neeson's action films, save for the "Taken" series, don't usually receive sequels. The scripts usually bring the characters to a natural conclusion that don't demand more adventures. Audiences are also more loyal to Neeson as a star, not to the people he's playing. They expect a certain kind of fun action film from the actor, even if he's a different character each time.
Neeson is getting older too, and he's indicated that he's ready to hang up his prop guns after 15 years of making thrillers. When asked about retirement from action films in early 2021, he told Entertainment Tonight, "Oh, yeah. I think so, I'm 68 and a half. 69 this year."
"The Commuter" also did well internationally, but it only made $36 million in the United States (Box Office Mojo). Because studios make more from domestic box office (via Investopedia), that number just doesn't sound great to Lionsgate even if they made a profit on the film overall. Ultimately, "The Commuter" will likely remain a standalone film.