Lockout | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by |
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Screenplay by |
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Story by | Luc Besson |
Based on | Escape from New York [1] [2] by John Carpenter Nick Castle Escape from L.A. [1] [2] by John Carpenter Debra Hill Kurt Russell |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | James Mather |
Edited by |
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Music by | Alexandre Azaria |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | EuropaCorp [3] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes [4] |
Country | France |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million [3] [5] |
Box office | $32.2 million [3] |
Lockout (also known as MS One: Maximum Security [6] [7] ) is a 2012 English-language French science fiction action film directed by James Mather and Stephen Saint Leger, and written by Mather, Saint Leger, and Luc Besson (with Besson serving as executive producer through EuropaCorp). It is both Mather and Saint Leger's feature directorial debuts. The film stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun, Lennie James and Peter Stormare. The plot follows Snow (Pearce), a man framed for a crime he did not commit, who is offered his freedom in exchange for rescuing the President's daughter Emilie (Grace) from the orbital prison MS One, which has been taken over by its inmates, led by Alex (Regan) and his psychotic brother Hydell (Gilgun).
Principal photography took place in Belgrade, Serbia. It premiered on 7 April 2012 at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, and was released on 13 April 2012 in North America and on 18 April 2012 in France.
A French court has ruled the film plagiarises the plot of the cult classic Escape from New York and its sequel, Escape from L.A. . [1]
In 2079, CIA operative Snow is arrested for murdering Colonel Frank Armstrong, who had uncovered evidence of a mole selling secrets about the United States space program. Secret Service Director Scott Langral, on advice from the President, has Snow convicted of murder and espionage. Snow is sentenced to thirty years in the maximum security space penitentiary MS One, where prisoners are kept in stasis for the length of their sentences. Snow's friend and fellow agent, Harry Shaw, tries to locate Snow's contact Mace, who knows where Frank's briefcase containing the stolen secrets is hidden.
Meanwhile, the President's daughter Emilie arrives on MS One to investigate claims that keeping prisoners in stasis can cause them to develop mental instability. The warden allows her to interview Hydell, a deranged prisoner. He manages to escape and releases all of the prisoners, starting a riot led by his brother Alex. Emilie is shot and is captured along with others. Shaw convinces Langral and the President to send Snow to rescue Emilie rather than risk her life in a siege. Snow is initially reluctant to go but agrees after Shaw tells him that Mace is on MS One and could help Snow prove his innocence. Langral initially attempts to trick Alex into releasing Emilie, but Hydell disagrees, forcing Snow to infiltrate MS One. Alex realizes that Emilie is the President's daughter and secures her, but she escapes with her bodyguard, Hock, and they hide in a secure room. A problem with the oxygen supply brings Hock to sacrifice his life by suicide to stop himself from using up oxygen to buy Emilie more time.
Snow breaks into the secure room and rescues Emilie after administering first aid for her wounds. Snow then changes Emilie's hair & clothing to conceal her gender, allowing them to walk through the prison population without being noticed. They find Mace, but the stasis has given him dementia and made him incoherent. Snow and Emilie bring Mace with them and attempt to reach the escape pod. With no one at the helm, the prison falls out of orbit and crashes into the International Space Station. The collision causes a hull breach, killing Mace. Snow brings Emilie to the escape pod but discovers it has only one seat. Realizing that he has been sent there to die, he sends Emilie on her way, but she allows the pod to launch without her because she believes the remaining hostages will be killed. Hydell contacts Emilie and threatens the hostages unless she reveals her location; after she does, however, he kills them anyway.
Snow and Emilie discover evidence that the prisoners were being illegally used as test subjects. Alex finds and captures Emilie; he also shoots Snow, leaving him for dead. Alex learns that Hydell has killed all of the hostages; he contacts the President, threatening to let Hydell and the prisoners rape Emilie if they are not released. The President refuses to allow a siege and risk Emilie, causing Langral to temporarily relieve him of his command. Langral orders the destruction of MS One. Hydell tries to rape Emilie as promised but is stopped by Alex. Hydell and Alex fight, resulting in Alex's death. Hydell then tries to stab Emilie, but Snow arrives and knocks him out. Snow and Emilie flee from Hydell and the remaining prisoners. Meanwhile, Langral's men plant a bomb on the prison. Snow and Emilie use space suits and jump from MS One as it detonates. Using their suits, Snow and Emilie re-enter Earth's atmosphere and land safely in New York City, where Snow is arrested.
Emilie later realizes that Mace's incoherent rambling was actually a code revealing the location of Frank's briefcase. Examining the motel room where Frank was killed, Emilie realizes that Langral saw what he believed was Snow shooting Frank on a mirrored door, which only showed part of what happened when, in reality, Snow was shooting at the actual assassin at the same time that Frank was shot. Snow gives the briefcase to Shaw, who unlocks it but is shocked to find it empty. Snow notes that he had not given Shaw the combination, and Shaw is revealed to be the mole and arrested. However, he believes he will get off lightly as people like him are needed. Snow is released, and his possessions are returned, including a lighter given to him by Frank before his death. Examining the lighter, Snow finds a memory card containing the real secret information hidden inside. Emilie meets Snow and teases him after discovering his first name is Marion; the pair walk away together.
The cast also includes Jacky Ido as Hock, Emilie's bodyguard; Tim Plester as Mace, Snow's contact; Mark Tankersley as Barnes, the prison Warden; Anne-Solenne Hatte as Kathryn, Emilie's aide and friend; Peter Hudson as President Jeff Warnock, Emilie's father; and Miodrag Stevanovic as Frank Armstrong, a CIA agent.
Principal photography was scheduled to begin on 7 September 2010, [14] in the Serbian capital city Belgrade. [10] [15] Much of the filming used green screens, rather than practical sets. [10] [15] The intended scenes were storyboarded in Dublin, Ireland to aid the actors in visualizing how the green screen scenes would appear after the completion of the CGI in post-production. Speaking about the experience, Grace stated: "You just have to suspend the voice in your head because you feel so silly reacting to nothing there. Having whole conversations with people that aren't there. I felt a little crazy the first time around." [11]
Luc Besson produced the film. Besson also co-wrote the script with James Mather and Stephen Saint Leger, the directors. [16]
FilmDistrict purchased the distribution rights to the film for a limited amount. [17] In December 2011, FilmDistrict reached a deal to distribute its 2012 films including Lockout through Open Road Films for a fee. [17] [18]
The film grossed US$14,326,864 in the United States and Canada, and US$17,877,166 from other markets for a worldwide total gross of US$32,204,030. [3]
Lockout opened to US$6.23 million from 2,308 theaters in the United States and Canada—an average of US$2,700 per theater—making it the number 9 film for the weekend. [3] [19] Pre-release tracking of the film had estimated that its opening-weekend gross would be between US$6–8 million. [17] The film drew a large male audience, with men making up 65% of those in attendance and an even split between those under and over the age of 25. [19]
Although Guy Pearce's role was generally well received, critical reaction for the film itself was mixed. On Metacritic the film has a score of 48 out of 100 from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [20] Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 38% approval rating based on reviews from 123 critics, with an average score of 5 out of 10, and the site's consensus reads: "Guy Pearce does the best he can with what he's given, but Lockout is ultimately too derivative and shallow to build on the many sci-fi thrillers it borrows from." [21] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B−" on an A+ to F scale. [22]
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C grade, writing: "Lockout floats like space junk in the final frontier." [23] James Rocchi of BoxOffice magazine called the film: "A sleek, slick and shameless rip-off of John Carpenter's Snake Plissken films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. " [24]
Lockout was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on 17 July 2012.
In 2015, director John Carpenter successfully sued the film's makers in the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris alleging Lockout plagiarized his films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. . The court awarded him damages of €20,000, Escape from New York screenwriter Nick Castle got €10,000, and €50,000 was given to StudioCanal. [25] [2] After Besson's appeal was rejected in July 2016, the claimant's total damages were increased to €450,000. [1] [2]
Léon: The Professional is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno and Gary Oldman, and features the film debut of Natalie Portman. The plot centers on Léon (Reno), a professional hitman who reluctantly takes in twelve-year-old Mathilda Lando (Portman) after her family are murdered by corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent Norman Stansfield (Oldman). Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade. The film was released in France by Gaumont and internationally through Gaumont Buena Vista International on 14 September 1994, and received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Luc Paul Maurice Besson is a French filmmaker. He directed or produced the films Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990). Associated with the Cinéma du look film movement, he has been nominated for a César Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his films Léon: The Professional (1994) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). He won Best Director and Best French Director for his sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997). He wrote and directed the 2014 sci-fi action film Lucy and the 2017 space opera film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
Point of No Return is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film La Femme Nikita.
La Femme Nikita, also called Nikita in France, is a 1990 French-language action thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Anne Parillaud as the title character, a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering policemen during an armed pharmacy robbery. Her government handlers fake her death and recruit her as a professional assassin. After intense training, she starts a career as a killer, where she struggles to balance her work with her personal life. She shows talent at this and her career progresses until a mission in an embassy goes awry.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc is a 1999 English-language French epic historical drama film directed by Luc Besson and starring Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway and Dustin Hoffman. The screenplay was written by Besson and Andrew Birkin, and the original score was composed by Éric Serra.
Le Dernier Combat is a 1983 French post-apocalyptic film. It was the first feature film to be directed by Luc Besson, and also features Jean Reno's first prominent role. Music for the film was composed by Éric Serra. The film was the first of many collaborations between Besson, Reno and Serra. A dark vision of post-apocalyptic survival, the film was shot in black and white and contains only two words of dialogue. It depicts a world where people have been rendered mute by some unknown incident.
Joseph William Gilgun is an English actor and producer known for several roles, including that of Vinnie O'Neill in the Sky Max series Brassic, which he also co-created, Marcus in Hollyoaks, Eli Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Jamie Armstrong in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, Woody in the film This Is England (2006) and its subsequent spin-off series, and Rudy Wade in E4's Misfits. From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the AMC television adaptation of the Vertigo comic Preacher as the Irish vampire Proinsias Cassidy.
Taken is a 2008 English-language French action-thriller film directed by Pierre Morel from a story written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Katie Cassidy, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser and Holly Valance. In the film, Bryan Mills is an ex-CIA officer who sets to track down his teenage daughter Kim and her best friend Amanda after they are kidnapped by Albanian human traffickers while travelling in France during a vacation.
Colombiana is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callum Blue, and Jordi Mollà. The term "Colombiana" means a woman from Colombia. The film is about Cataleya, a nine-year-old girl in Colombia whose family is killed by a drug lord. Fifteen years later, a grown Cataleya seeks her revenge.
FilmDistrict Distribution LLC was an American independent motion picture company based in Los Angeles. It specialized in acquisitions, distribution, production, and financing. It was founded in September 2010 by Bob Berney and Peter Schlessel in partnership with Graham King and Timothy Headington.
The Lady is a 2011 biographical film directed by Luc Besson, starring Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi and David Thewlis as her late husband Michael Aris. Yeoh called the film "a labour of love" but also confessed it had felt intimidating for her to play the Nobel laureate.
"Pilot" is the series premiere of the American television series Nikita. It premiered in the United States on The CW Television Network on September 9, 2010. The episode was written by series creator Craig Silverstein and directed by Danny Cannon.
Taken 3 is a 2014 English-language French action-thriller film directed by Olivier Megaton and written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It is the third and final installment in the Taken trilogy. A co-production between France, Spain and the United States, the film stars Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen.
The Family is a 2013 black comedy crime film co-written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, and John D'Leo. It follows a Mafia family in the witness protection program who want to change their lives. It is based on the French novel Malavita by Tonino Benacquista.
Lucy is a 2014 English-language French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson for his company EuropaCorp, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It is an English-language film shot in Taipei, Paris, and New York City. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, and Amr Waked. Johansson portrays the titular character, a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities when a nootropic, psychedelic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream.
Spooks: The Greater Good is a 2015 British spy film, continuing from the 2002–2011 British television spy series Spooks. Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent wrote the script, with Bharat Nalluri directing. Peter Firth reprises his role as Harry Pearce, who appeared in all ten series of the programme. Also returning from the TV series are Tim McInnerny as Oliver Mace, Lara Pulver as Erin Watts, Hugh Simon as Malcolm Wynn-Jones, and Geoffrey Streatfeild as Calum Reed. Kit Harington and Jennifer Ehle star as new characters in leading roles.
Taxi is a series of French comedy films, created by screenwriter and producer Luc Besson, consisting of five films primarily set in Marseille. In addition, an American-French remake of the 1998 original was made in 2004 and titled Taxi. In 2014 an American-French TV series called Taxi Brooklyn also aired.
Anna is a 2019 action thriller film written, produced and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Sasha Luss as the eponymous assassin, alongside Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren, and Alexander Petrov.
Ready or Not is a 2019 American black comedy horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. It stars Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell. It follows a young bride who is hunted by her spouse's wealthy family as part of a wedding night ritual.
Arthur, malédiction is a 2022 French meta psychological horror film directed by Barthélemy Grossmann. It is the fourth installment overall in the Arthur film series, which is based on the eponymous children's fantasy novel series by Luc Besson, and serves a spin-off in which the original trilogy is presented as a film-within-a-film. The film stars an ensemble cast, and follows a group of Arthur fans who discover the house that was used as one of the trilogy live-action sequences set, only to find themselves being hunted down one-by-one by a group of deranged role-players.