Stop me if you’ve heard this one before- a prisoner is offered his freedom if he commits to a dangerous rescue operation of the president’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by violent inmates inside an abandoned prison.
Now take that premise, make the man innocent of his crime of espionage, set it aboard a prison in outer space, cast Guy Pearce as the lead and make Luc Besson produce and co-write. Do I have your attention yet?
Deadline reports today that Besson’s Europacorp is in talks with Sony Pictures to distribute Lockout. They were the folks who distributed his last sci-fi epic The Fifth Element as well as The Professional, so perhaps they’ll bite. Co-writers James Mather and Stephen St. Leger will direct.
Maggie Grace, formerly of Lost but perhaps best known as the kidnapped teenager from Taken, will play the president’s daughter. Hopefully she won’t get typecast in all kidnapee roles, as she’s also going to appear in the upcoming Taken sequel (More Taken? Taken Again? Takener?)
