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By Jonathan Klotz
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They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, which means John Carpenter has been flattered more than most people. The genius behind Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Thingand Big Trouble in Little China is one of the most imitated directors of all time. One film got a little too close for his tastes though and he took the writer to court, who happened to be another famous director, Luc Besson. Luc Besson’s 2012 film Lockout was derisively described as Escape from New York in space, and Carpenter agreed, taking the Frenchman to court over the movie.
Escape From New York In Space
Escape from New York stars Carpenter’s frequent collaborator Kurt Russell as Snake Plisken, the eye-patch wearing convicted tough guy to take on a mission to save the President from a New York turned into a gigantic prison complex. Lockdown stars Guy Pearce as Marion Snow, a convicted felon sent to a gigantic space prison to save the President’s daughter, Emilie, (Maggie Grace) and clear his name in the process. Don’t worry, it gets worse.
Frank Doubleday’s great performance as the Duke of New York’s second Romero in Escape from New York is replicated in Lockout with Hydel, played by Joe Gilgun, the psychotic second in command who ends up stealing every scene he’s in. There’s also a ticking clock: in Escape from New Yorkit’s the impending murder of the President and then embedded explosives, while in Lockoutit’s a CIA officer willing to blow up the station to cover his tracks. Copying one or two elements could be overlooked, that’s how we got Torque, but following Carpenter’s suit, a French court ruled in his favor.
Carpenter filed suit in 2015, three years after Lockout bombed in theaters but managed to make some money on home media. The French court ruled in his favor against countryman Luc Besson, who made the choice to appeal. Prior to the appeal, Besson and his production partners were ordered to pay €20,000 to Carpenter, €10,000 to his writing partner Nick Cave, and €50,000 to StudioCanal. After the appeal was struck down, the court increased the total damages to €450,000.
Lockout Is Dumb Fun
Lockout isn’t a bad movie, it’s a perfectly fun dumb action movie. Guy Pearce does a great Kurt Russell impression, and the action set pieces are, again, fun but dumb. Had Luc Besson directed the film with the manic energy he brought to The Fifth Element and Lucyit would have been far more over the top and memorable instead of the perfect lazy Sunday afternoon streaming movie for fans of the Cleveland Browns.
One particular cringey scene takes place after Marion has saved Emilie, where they have to disguise her. This involves a sudden cut to Guy Pearce with offscreen noises from Maggie Grace as he rubs black oil and cuts her hair, then she stands back up in the next cut with black hair and a short haircut. No one thought Lockout would have one of the most blatant edits in movie history, but here we are.
Audiences largely avoided Lockout which was saved financially by the overseas market. Making $32 million, it didn’t lose money, but a budget of $20 million before marketing costs means the profit was very slim. We were never going to get another Guy Pearce Marion Snow film even before the lawsuit.
The Future Of Escape From New York
Lockout is currently free to stream on Tubi and time has been kind to this film. It’s the type of sci-fi action we need more of, though Alan Ritchson’s War Machine on Netflix has helped fill that gap. It was a one-and-done, but on the other hand, Escape from New York is about to become more relevant.
The good news for fans of Snake is that a sequel is in development. The bad news is that Zach Snyder is writing and directing it. Will it be the Snyder who gave us Army of the Dead and 300? Or the Snyder who wrote Sucker Punch and Rebel Moon?
