Liam Neeson is to lead the cast of the dark heist comedy '4 Kids Walk Into a Bank'.

The 'Taken' actor will be joined in the film by rising stars Talia Ryder, Noah Jupe, Whitney Peak, Jack Dylan Grazer and Deacon Phillippe – the son of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.

The picture is set to be directed by Frankie Shaw and is based on a graphic novel by Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss. Matt Robinson has adapted the script with revisions by Shaw.

Neeson plays former bank robber Danny, whose teenage granddaughter Paige (Ryder) means the world to him.

When she finds out that his former gang is pulling him back in for one last theft to pay a debt, she comes up with the solution of getting her three friends to rob the bank the day before so that he doesn't have to.

It is not the only comedy project that Neeson has lined up as he is also taking on the central role in the reboot of 'The Naked Gun' reboot.

The 72-year-old actor is to feature as Frank Drebin Jr. – the son of Leslie Nielsen's protagonist Detective Frank Drebin from the original films – in the forthcoming flick and is wary of the expectation that comes with reviving the spoof comedy franchise.

Liam told MovieWeb.com: "I've done a couple of, like, TV skits with Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais, but those were two minutes, three minutes tops.

"But I'm a bit nervous about 'Naked Gun', because it's a feature film... If he tests it well, which I'm sure he will, Akiva Schaffer is our writer-director.

"And there's lots of funny gags, lots of funny visual gags happening at the same time while 'serious things' are being discussed, you know?"