After discovering Pierre Morel (‘Taken’), Alexandre Aja (‘Haute Tension’) and Louis Leterrier (‘The Transporter’), Luc Besson and EuropaCorp now produce the first futuristic thriller directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, two Irish filmmakers whose sci-fi short ‘Prey Alone’ was an internet sensation bringing the directors acclaim for their mastery of green screen techniques. It’s hardly surprising then, for EuropaCorp to remain faithful to its tradition and commiting to ‘Lockout’

Starring Guy Pearce (‘Memento’, ‘Prometheus’) and Maggie Grace (‘Taken’, ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn’) and set in the near future, Lockout follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent (Pearce), whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President’s daughter (Grace) from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum-security prison. Lockout was directed by Stephen St. Leger and James Mather from their script, co-written with Luc Besson, who is also a producer. Peter Stormare co-stars.

Two Dublin boys

James Mather and Stephen St. Leger met at film school in Dublin and started working as a team. In the last twenty years, they have shot numerous commercials and shorts. “Generally, James is behind the camera and I direct,” says Stephen St Leger. Producer Marc Libert explains, “James is responsible for the photography and lighting while Steve takes care of the writing and editing.”

The directorial duo soon became experts in use of the green screen, obtaining spectacular results for their short films. It was their 15-minute short, ‘Prey Alone’, which convinced EuropaCorp. “We were all very impressed,” says Libert. “It shows a fighter plane chasing a car into a tunnel. It’s astonishing that they shot it on a shoestring budget of 60,000 euros from the Irish government.” Producer Leila Smith adds, “after we saw it, we showed a DVD to Luc, who insisted on meeting the directors.”

“I’m a fan of lots of Luc’s films, such as ‘Le Grand Bleu’ and ‘Subway’, says St. Leger. “And there are several shots in ‘Prey Alone’ that are close to ‘The Professional’. Maybe Luc was receptive to the themes of our short or the fact that we oversaw all the special effects ourselves.” The M.S. ONE adventure could begin.

Image Courtesy of    Lockout

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