Paxton and Linda, a couple at the end of their relationship who are only still living together because of lock-down orders in the U.K. The two attempt to navigate their new situations as COVID-19 spreads around the globe; Paxton is furloughed from his job, while Linda is forced to fire employees from her company as they look to cut costs. Through his boss Malcolm, Paxton "using a fake identity" accepts work transporting goods and materials from places that are closing during the lock-down. One of his stops is a department store that's part of Linda's corporation. Dissatisfied with their current state of life, Paxton and Linda design a plan to steal an expensive diamond from the department store so they can become rich.

Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Locked Down?

Directed by Doug Liman, with Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Merchant leading the cast, Locked Down was produced by AGC Studios with a confirmed budget of $10,000,000, placing it in the low-budget category for comedy films.

At $10,000,000, Locked Down was produced on a modest budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $25,000,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• By the Sea (2015): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross $3,727,746 → ROI: -63% • Eye for an Eye (2025): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross N/A • Goal! (2005): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross $27,610,873 → ROI: 176% • Phantom (2013): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross $1,197,759 → ROI: -88% • War of the Worlds (2025): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross N/A

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Talent Salaries & Producing Deals Established comedic talent can command $15–20 million per film, with top-tier stars earning even more through producing credits and backend deals. Comedy ensembles multiply this cost across several well-known performers.

▸ Production & Location Filming While comedies generally avoid the VFX costs of action films, location shooting in recognizable cities or exotic locales adds meaningful production expense.

▸ Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising) Comedies rely heavily on marketing to build opening-weekend momentum. Studios typically spend 50–100% of the production budget on marketing, with comedy trailers and social media campaigns being particularly expensive.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Merchant, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon Key roles: Anne Hathaway as Linda; Chiwetel Ejiofor as Paxton; Stephen Merchant as Michael Morgan; Dulé Hill as David

DIRECTOR: Doug Liman CINEMATOGRAPHY: Remi Adefarasin MUSIC: John Powell EDITING: Saar Klein PRODUCTION: AGC Studios, Storyteller Productions, Hypnotic, Nebulastar FILMED IN: United Kingdom, United States of America

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for Locked Down (2021). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.