Liam Neeson's newest movie bombs at box office after race row

Liam Neeson’s new movie Cold Pursuit has had the lowest-grossing debut weekend of any action film he’s made since 1990.

The film made $10.8 million (around $15.2m AUD), second only to Sam Raimi’s Darkman, released in 1990, and which though now considered something of a cult classic, made only $8 million ($11.3m) on its debut.

It’s the worst-performing movie of Neeson’s in any genre since 2010, when his movie The Next Three Days, with Russell Crowe, opened to just $6.5million ($9.2m), according to The Wrap.

The news of its poor performance at the box office is somewhat expected, after the actor faced severe backlash for an interview he did during the movie’s promotional tour.

The Irish actor told The Independent a detailed story of how, 40 years ago, he considered a racially motivated revenge attack after discovering a good friend had been raped by a black man.

Liam told the newspaper that he walked around black areas for several days carrying a cosh, hoping that he would be set upon, so that he could fight back.

He said that he wanted to kill a man during this period, and felt a ‘primal rage’, though he went on to say that he came to his senses was later disgusted by his actions.

In an interview with Good Morning America, he added that he saw a priest to confess his sins and insisted he is not racist.

Promotion for the movie has been adversely affected by Liam’s comments, with a red carpet event for the film’s New York premiere axed, as well as a cancelled appearance on The Last Show with Stephen Colbert.

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