‘Locked Down’ Director Doug Liman on Filming a Heist at Harrods During a Pandemic
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 Published On Jan 14, 2021

If you know anything about how movies are made, you are well aware that making a movie takes time. Not only do you have to write the script, cast the actors, find a director, and get the financing, each step of this process can take an eternity. That’s why you sometimes hear people saying it took a decade to get something made. But with director Doug Liman and screenwriter Steven Knight’s new movie Locked Down (which is now streaming on HBO Max), everything I just mentioned went out the window.

Not only did they come up with the idea in July of 2020, they started casting with only a fraction of the finished script, and then they were shooting in London in September. In addition, rather than spending months or even years working on the screenplay, everyone involved agreed to shoot the first draft. Over the course of 18 days, a very small crew shot the 180-page script during the pandemic and were the first movie given permission to shoot inside one of London’s most famous department stores: Harrods. While you might think this mad plan would result in a half-baked movie, Locked Down absolutely captures what we’re all going through and completely works due to Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s fantastic performances. Moreover, the third act consists of a heist that could only be shot during a pandemic.

If you’re not familiar with the film, Locked Down is about a broken up couple (Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor) that are forced to stay together at their London home due to the mandatory lockdown. They originally got together 10 years prior and during that time have each gone their separate ways. But when Ejiofor’s character is offered a job that surprisingly intermingles with Hathaway’s world, they start to wonder if they both should do something unexpected. Locked Down also features Stephen Merchant, Mindy Kaling, Lucy Boynton, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon, Ben Stiller and Ben Kingsley.

Shortly after seeing the film I had the chance to speak with Doug Liman. He talked about what it was like making a movie about the pandemic during the pandemic, how quickly the project came together and the lack of time to debate the script, how they got Harrods to agree to be in the movie, why the hand sanitizer keeps going down in the film (because the crew was using it), and a lot more.

Doug Liman:
• How the movie turned out a lot better than it had any right to be.
• The unconventional way they made this film.
• How they’re the only movie made in 2020 about 2020.
• How the hand sanitizer keeps going down in the film because the crew was using it.
• Why he wanted to make the film quickly.
• How they filmed the first draft of the screenplay.
• What was it like filming at Harrods and the big 3rd act.

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