Not as literally, however, as Liam Neeson’s latest thriller, “Taken,” which posted a strong second weekend, adding around $20.3 million to its now 10-day total of $53.3 million. Not bad for an actor who allegedly “quit” the movie biz a few years ago after his involvement with the Star Wars franchises; since then, Neeson’s wowed audiences with his portrayal of Ras Ah Ghul in Batman Begins, as well as his intense turn in Taken. In fact, Neeson’s arguably appeared in better roles since “quitting” Hollywood than before; he’s appeared in about a dozen films since souring on Tinseltown after 2002′s Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and he has at least five more roles scheduled between now and 2011, in which he’s expected to turn in a performance as Abraham Lincoln in a bio-film named, simply, Lincoln.

Coraline, the twisted children’s film from the pen of Neil Gaiman, came in third with $16.3 million, while Steve Martin’s sequel, Pink Panther 2, managed only $12.0 million for fourth place, despite appearing on over 1,000 more screens. Paul Blart: Mall Cop rounded out the Top 5 with $11.0 million and the sci-fi, comic book-inspired thriller Push could manage no better than sixth place with an anemic $10.2 million.

Everything else trailed badly.