Back in August came the news that Luc Besson was set to write and produce LOCKOUT, a sci-fi action flick with a plot that could best be described as TAKEN meets ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK… in space. The film, which stars Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace, was supposed to have started production by now (September 7 to be exact), but obviously that hasn’t happened… Doesn’t mean the film is dead, though; far from it.
Today we learn that upstart distribution company FilmDistrict has nabbed all U.S. rights to LOCKOUT, which is now scheduled to begin shooting early next year. Most foreign territories have already been sold; FilmDistrict is planning on releasing it during the first quarter of 2012.
Set to be directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and produced by Besson’s production house Eurocorp, LOCKOUT tells the story of a falsely convicted ex-government agent (Pearce) whose only chance of freedom is to accept a dangerous mission to rescue the president’s daughter (Grace) from rioting prisoners at an outer space maximum security prison.