#Liam Neeson’s The Ice Road Goes Straight to Netflix, and They Paid a Ton for It

Liam Neeson’s next foray into action movies, The Ice Road, will head to Netflix, with the streaming giant reportedly picking up the movie for a very pretty penny. Neeson has found huge success in the latter part of his career, blasting his way into the action genre as the go-to aged hero, and now Netflix want to bask in the glow of that success, winning the domestic rights to The Ice Road for $18 million.

According to reports, the popular streaming service was eager to snatch the Liam Neeson action flick after watching a promo, and that Netflix had to fight off several other platforms also longing to add Neeson to their action release roster. Netflix are moving more and more into paying out big bucks for big action movie properties, investing millions in both Dwayne Johnson’s Red Notice, which also stars Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, and the spy thriller The Gray Man starring A-listers Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans.

As for The Ice Road, Liam Neeson will once again find himself in the role of grizzle saviour as ice driver, Mike, who leads an implausible rescue mission over a frozen ocean after a remote diamond mine collapses in the far northern regions of Canada. Mike must race against time to save the lives of the trapped miners as the thawing waters rise. The Matrix and John Wick: Chapter 2 star Laurence Fishburne stars alongside Neeson, with Fishburne playing Goldenrod, the owner of the trucking company who hires Mike and accompanies him on this journey. Making up the rest of the supporting cast are Ray McKinnon, Marcus Thomas, Benjamin Walker and Amber Midthunder, while The Punisher’s Jonathan Hensleigh is on directing duty having also written the screenplay.

Despite constantly threatening to retire from action movies for good, Liam Neeson has several in the pipeline alongside The Ice Road. The actor recently signed on to star in the thriller Retribution for Studiocanal, which finds Neeson as an unassuming businessman who finds himself pushed to his limits after receiving a phone call telling him that there’s a bomb in his car and he needs to do exactly what the bomber says or else it will explode. Of course, because things aren’t already tough enough, his two children are also in the car with him.

Neeson has also signed on to star in Memory, in which the celebrated actor will play an assassin-for-hire who finds himself the target of a dangerous criminal organization, and Blacklight, which finds Neeson as Travis Block, a shadowy Government agent who specializes in removing operatives who’s covers have been exposed, when he uncovers a deadly conspiracy within his own ranks that reaches the highest echelons of power. Neeson can currently be seen plying his trade in The Marksman, which sees him protecting a young Mexican boy from Cartel assassins. Clearly, Neeson has a very different definition of retirement to the rest of us.

The Ice Road does not yet have a release date, but Netflix reportedly intends to debut the movie later on this year. This comes to us courtesy of Deadline.

Topics: The Ice Road