#HBO Max’s Pandemic Heist Rom-Com Lockdown Assembles All-Star Cast for Director Doug Liman

Several projects revolving around the current global situation are now being worked on, because apparently audiences need reminding of the hell that is 2020. Next up is a heist-rom-com titled Lockdown and set to be helmed by Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman. Recently acquired in a major worldwide rights deal by Warner Bros. the movie will feature a star-studded ensemble cast comprised of Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Stephen Merchant, Lucy Boynton, Ben Kingsley, Mindy Kaling and Dule Hill.

Written by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, Lockdown is set against the backdrop of the recent Covid-19 lockdown, the movie will tell the story of how sparring couple Linda (Anne Hathaway) and Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) put their differences aside and call a truce to attempt a high-risk, high stakes jewellery heist at the world’s most exclusive department store, Harrods.

Lockdown will reportedly premiere early 2021 on HBO Max, as the streaming service continues to build up its catalogue of original material along with the recent announcement that all of Warner Bros new releases will debut on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously across the next year or so.

Lockdown is just one of a few upcoming projects set around the ongoing situation, with the Michael Bay-produced thriller Songbird also set to remind us all of our crushing reality. Set four years into quarantine the COVID-23 virus has mutated, and infected Americans are now being ripped from their homes and forced into quarantine camps known as Q-Zones. Amid this dystopian landscape, a fearless courier, Nico, who’s immune to the deadly pathogen, finds hope and love with Sara, though her lockdown prohibits them from physical contact. When Sara is believed to have become infected, Nico races desperately across the barren streets of Los Angeles in search of the only thing that can save her from imprisonment…or worse.

Directed by Adam Mason, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Boyes, and produced by Michael Bay, Adam Goodman, Andrew Sugerman and Eben Davidson, Songbird stars KJ Apa and Sofia Carson as the star-crossed couple at the movie’s center, with Craig Robinson, Bradley Whitford, Peter Stormare, Alexandra Daddario, Paul Walter Hauser and Demi Moore in supporting roles. It was recently announced that the movie will be released through premium video on demand on December 11, 2020, by STXfilms.

In case that all sounds far too depressing, comedic producer, writer and director Judd Apatow recently signed an exclusive deal with Netflix to bring his untitled pandemic-themed comedy straight to streaming. The movie will reportedly follow a group of actors and actresses stuck inside a pandemic bubble at a hotel attempting to complete a movie. Insiders have also claimed that, thanks to the sheer number of high-profile roles in the movie, we could end up with another star-studded ensemble cast similar to that in director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out.

Doug Liman meanwhile is also due to reunite with Tom Cruise for an action movie that will see the pair venture into space for filming. He and Cruise will actually take off in one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches in order to risk their lives for the sake of cinematic entertainment. This comes to us from Deadline.

Topics: Lockdown, HBO Max, Streaming