Despite the premiere of Cold Pursuit being cancelled in New York, it opened this weekend and still raked in millions

Liam Neeson ‘s latest film has made £7m on its opening weekend – despite outrage over his racism row.

The 66-year-old stars in Cold Pursuit alongside Emmy Rossum, Laura Dern and Tom BAteman, which had its UK premiere cancelled following his explosive murderous comments.

Promotion for the film was derailed by Liam’s controversial interview with The Independent , in which he said he, “could unleash physical violence,” and that he went, “deliberately into black areas in this city looking to be set upon.”

However, the movie has still raked in millions amid the furore, even though Neeson has allegedly bowed out of further interviews .

Liam Neeson caused outrage with hism racist comments (Image: Getty Images for SeriousFun)

According to the Sun industry experts have forecast that Cold Pursuit, which is set for release in the UK on February 22nd, could break into the Box Office top two.

The Irish actor caused backlash when he told the  Independent : “There’s something primal – God forbid you’ve ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions.”

Speaking about how he felt powerless to help his family member, Liam then spoke about the vigilante urges that came over him.

The actor currently stars in Cold Pursuit (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
He said: “My immediate reaction was… I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.

“I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some ‘black b*****d’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.”

He subsequently denied being racist in a car crash interview with Robin Roberts on American breakfast TV but did repeat the claims he made in the original interview.

He faced more backlash with an appearance on Good Morning America (Image: ABC)

The Irish actor didn’t appear to apologise for his comments (Image: ABC)
During that appearance, Liam reiterated that, “I did it for maybe four or five times until I caught myself on, and it really shocked me, this primal urge I had. It shocked me and it hurt me. I did seek help.”

Neeson continued, saying, “I’m not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago.”

The furore surrounding his comments has led to Lionsgate cancelling a red carpet event for the premiere of his latest, with a source close to the event saying that holding the event would’ve been inappropriate under the circumstances.