Another Netflix star joins Jamie Foxx’s Die Hard-style action thriller

Right then, if you’ve been missing Jamie Foxx in a proper big-screen action role, it looks like Amazon MGM Studios is giving him another punt. The upcoming film Deadlocked was only officially greenlit last month, and already the studio’s lining it up as Foxx’s next major vehicle after last year’s surprisingly sharp courtroom drama The Burial. Clearly Foxx is on a run — between Netflix’s Back in Action, Day Shift, and Project Power, he’s getting his fill of punch-ups and spectacle. But let’s be honest, sometimes a bloke just wants to see Foxx go full Die Hard, trapped in a building with danger lurking in every stairwell. Deadlocked is that sort of film – pure high-stakes, locked-room suspense, echoing the likes of Inside Man and The Negotiator.

Production on Deadlocked is now officially underway, with Jamie Foxx leading the cast in his latest action-thriller for Amazon MGM Studios.

Now, the twist in the tale: Deadlocked has just bagged its first major co-star, and it’s none other than Sasha Calle. If you’re not tracking her career yet, she’s not flitting from project to project – there’s a clear pattern (and a bit of a hot streak). She pulled off a solid run with the Netflix heist flick The Rip and the cybercrime thriller Wardriver. She’s got drama credentials too – On Swift Horses, In the Summers, and, less gloriously, as Supergirl in The Flash (not her fault it bombed, let’s be fair). Oh, and she put in miles on telly in The Young and the Restless. Recently, she’s blowing up as the co-lead with Colin Farrell in Sugar. Deadlocked might be her decisive step from cult favourite to full-blown box office lead.

The Setup and the Team

This one comes from the minds of Eric Scot Anderson (the man’s co-written for three Call of Duty games, so action is very much his gig) and Matt Takejiro Bosack, who created NCIS: Hawai'i. The premise sounds straight out of popcorn thriller central: Foxx plays a former Marine – recently bereaved, they do love that angle – hauled onto jury duty. Things go fully sideways when the accused’s daughter storms the courthouse, taking the lot of them hostage to spring her dad. If you’re thinking, 'well, that only works with a strong ensemble', you’d be spot on – the casting here is everything.

So far, no official word on Calle’s character, but put two and two together and she’s almost certainly down as the daughter who sparks the mayhem. It’d be the obvious call, and if you’ve seen Calle go full action in The Flash (yes, those stunts were hers), you’ll know she’s up for something more physical this time, not just weeping in the gallery.

Foxx's prior outing with Amazon MGM, The Burial, saw him stretch his dramatic muscles, but Deadlocked promises a much pulpier, urgent brand of suspense, with Nikhil Bhat – fresh off the buzzy actioner Kill – in the director’s seat.

Sasha Calle: Emerging Action Star?

Calle’s next year looks jammed, with Mike Flanagan roping her in for The Exorcist: Martyrs. She’s getting called up to the A-list ensemble for Lips Like Sugar, a neo-noir flush with familiar faces – Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson, Juliette Lewis, Kathryn Newton, even Erin Moriarty. She’s steadily left behind the early typecasting and built a slate of interesting roles – here’s hoping Deadlocked gives her the blockbuster turn her CV’s been angling toward. Plus, she’s earned a bit of respect for doing her own stunts (not every actor’s game), which should give the set-pieces in this film a bit of extra bite. It’s the first real test to see if Calle can take up the action mantle and hold her own against a household name like Foxx.

• Sasha Calle's roster: Wardriver, The Rip, On Swift Horses, In the Summers, The Flash, The Young and the Restless, Sugar, The Exorcist: Martyrs (upcoming), Lips Like Sugar (upcoming)

For now, there’s no word on expanded cast or a release window, but with Foxx and Calle on board and the production wheels freshly spinning, we’ll likely see more details surface soon enough.