Kill director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat to direct Jamie Foxx in Hollywood action thriller Deadlocked

Indian filmmaker Nikhil Nagesh Bhat is making a major leap to Hollywood after earning widespread international acclaim for his relentless action spectacle, Kill. Nikhil has officially signed on to direct Deadlocked, an upcoming action thriller starring Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx.

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat to direct Jamie Foxx in Deadlocked

Distributed globally by Amazon MGM Studios, the feature will stream worldwide on Prime Video. The high-stakes narrative centres on a grieving former Marine serving jury duty who is abruptly forced back into action when the ‘trial of the century’ devolves into a deadly hostage crisis. Chaos erupts after the defendant’s daughter seizes control of the courthouse in a desperate attempt to break her father out.

The original screenplay is penned by Eric Scot Anderson and Matt Takejiro Bosack. Production is backed by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger for Range Media Partners, alongside Dave Caplan for C2 Motion Picture Group—the banners behind horror hits Longlegs and The Monkey—and Jamie producing via Foxxhole Productions. AJ Bourscheid, Liz Destro, Paul Currie and Corinne Foxx serve as executive producers.

Jamie recently headlined the action comedy Back in Action alongside Cameron Diaz, which registered a massive 46.8 million views in its opening weekend. The actor will next star in the upcoming Olympic boxing drama Fight for ’84.

For Nikhil, Deadlocked marks his maiden foray into English-language feature films. The director captured global attention with Kill, backed by Dharma Productions and Sikhya Entertainment, starring Lakshya, Raghav Juyal and Tanya Maniktala. Billed as one of India's most violent and thrilling cinematic releases, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness. The film went on to gross over ₹47 crore at the box office and picked up six Filmfare Awards. Nikhil’s previous directorial credits include the survival thriller Apurva and web series The Gone Game.

With Nikhil bringing his signature visceral staging to an intense courtroom siege, Deadlocked promises an adrenaline-fuelled spectacle for cinema lovers worldwide.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.