Lockout Budget

What is the budget of Lockout?

"Lockout," an action released in 2012, was directed by Stephen St. Leger, James Mather and stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace. The production budget was $20,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for action productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for an action production like this include:

• Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects: Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences.
• Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
• Production Design, Sets & Locations: Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment , all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.
• Development: Principal photography was reported to have begun on 7 September 2010

What were the major cost factors in Lockout?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Lockout."

• Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
• Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
• Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.

How Does Lockout's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $20,000,000, Lockout sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• 12 Years a Slave (2013): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $187,000,000
• 21 Grams (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $60,427,839
• 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $11,798,854
• A Guy Thing (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $17,400,000
• A Most Violent Year (2014): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $12,007,070

The median budget for wide-release action films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Lockout Box Office Performance

"Lockout" earned $14,326,864 domestically and $32,948,113 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $20,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Lockout," that break-even threshold was roughly $40,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $32,948,113, the film fell short of that threshold but recouped its production costs in theatrical release.

• Production Budget: $20,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $32,948,113
• Net Return: $12,948,113
• ROI: approximately 64.7%

At 64.7%, "Lockout" returned its production investment but margin was tight after marketing and distribution costs.

Lockout Production History

Principal photography was reported to have begun on 7 September 2010 FilmDistrict purchased the distribution rights to the film.

Awards and Recognition

1 nomination total

Critical Reception

On Metacritic the film has a score of 48 out of 100 from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. James Rocchi of BoxOffice magazine called the film: "A sleek, slick and shameless rip-off of John Carpenter's Snake Plissken films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A."