Locked might just be the movie that makes you realize you did actually need to see Bill Skarsgård trapped inside a locked SUV. This English-language remake of the Argentine film 4×4 tells the story of Eddie Barish (Skarsgård), a down-on-his-luck father who can’t seem to get himself together enough to be the presence in his daughter’s life that he wishes he were. When he finds an expensive-looking SUV left unlocked in a parking lot, he hops inside in search of some much-needed cash, only to have the doors locked and the tables turned on him by the vehicle’s sociopathic owner.

That owner, by the way, is played by Anthony Hopkins in one of the actor’s most eccentric performances yet. Hopkins and Skarsgård both worked closely with director David Yarovesky, an energetic filmmaker and vocal defender of remake culture, to hone performances that included more than one discourse on the virtues and vices of capitalism in the Certified Fresh movie. Yarovesky is also known for his work directing Brightburn, the “Dark Superman” horror movie produced by James Gunn.

ScreenRant spoke with David Yarovesky about his work putting his own spin on the 4xr4 story with Locked. He revealed why the movie was sH๏τ in Vancouver’s Gastown neighborhood, a location in the throes of gentrification, and what he hoped to do to set his movie apart from its inspiration (for that, he also praised screenwriter Michael Arlen Ross). Yarovesky also weighed in on the potential of a future collaboration with James Gunn after Gunn cast doubt on Brightburn 2.

The Location Of The Car Was Very Intentional

Vancouver’s Gastown Neighborhood Embodied The Movie’s Message

Vancouver’s Gastown area is one of the city’s most alluring destinations for both tourists and locals… as well as for visiting film crews. Hastings Street in particular was of poetic interest to Yarovesky: “[It’s] a place where there’s a lot of pain. It’s almost like Skid Row in Los Angeles. It’s gnarly, and I don’t think I’ve ever really seen anything quite like it before.”

But it was the juxtaposition that ultimately drew Yarovesky there. “The apartments and condos there are really expensive,” the director said, “It’s the hip part of town, and there are these foodie restaurants that are incredible. My favorite restaurant in Vancouver is in Gastown.” The director even relayed a story of seeing a junkie with a needle in his arm leaning on the wall outside that restaurant, “and then you walk inside, and it’s this nice, fancy restaurant, and people are having a great time. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is literally the moral conversation in the movie.’”

If your cynical sense is tingling, you may enjoy what Yarovesky said next: “The first AD would remind us every day that there’s a lot of pain in this area and our goal is to add none. We went through a lot to not only shoot there, but to be a positive influence on that city and try to give back where we could. We worked with local liaisons to be something positive in the area. The movie’s a fun movie, but at times shooting it was heavy.”

Glen Powell’s Exit From Locked Changed Everything

The Movie Was Shaped To Fit Bill Skarsgård After Powell Left

Locked began with a script by Michael Arlen Ross that “pulled me in, [and] pulled Sam (Raimi, who produced the film) in,” said Yarovesky. But that wasn’t the end of the writing process: “The plan was that, once we had an actor attached, we would then really mold that character around that person. And when I met Bill, I saw something. I saw somewhere, deep down in an alternate dimension, like a person he could have been. And then I exaggerated aspects of it, but I pulled on that thing, and that’s who Eddie is.”

But that–and Skarsgård’s undeniably committed performance in the movie–only came after Locked’s original star bowed out. “It’s not unknown that Glen Powell was on the movie at some point. We were shaping it around him, and then he fell off because our movie kept pushing. We’re an independent movie,” Yarovesky said, “It wasn’t a studio giving us a green light. We had to go with our hat in hand and beg for money to get to make it, and so we couldn’t do it in time.”

The silver lining to all this was that Skarsgård, who was unavailable when the movie was first pitched, had become open. Those who see Locked will likely have a very hard time seeing Powell in the role Skarsgård ended up playing, but Yarovesky commented on that, saying, “It wouldn’t have been the role that you saw.”

Anthony Hopkins’ Instagram Account Inspired His Character

After Many Deep Conversations, Yarovesky Wanted To Bring Out The Fun Hopkins

After revealing how Skarsgård’s role was molded around him, Yarovesky was quick to say the same approach was taken with Anthony Hopkins, and then some: “When he came on board, I spent a lot of time with him, he would call me, and we’d actually write these really long emails that were really vulnerable. It was weird. We met, and I’m like, ‘I’m sitting across from Anthony Hopkins. This is crazy’, [and then] in such a short amount of time, we were sharing what I would consider were very vulnerable and intimate aspects about ourselves, and our family and morality.”

“We really dove in,” Yarovesky continued, “because the movie is my favorite kind of [thing in that] it appears like entertainment, but if you pull back layers, you find that there was a lot of thought and a lot going on around it. [He and I] went deep, and then we started writing these long emails to each other.”

But it was the fun side of Hopkins that Yarovesky was most drawn to, the director revealed: “I had seen his Instagram and said [to him], ‘Your Instagram’s so surprising. I heard Sir Anthony Hopkins, and then I see this person who is not what I’m imagining when I’m imagining one of the greatest living actors of all time–a Shakespearean actor. You just look so playful and fun and silly.’ And I wanted to bring a hint of that to this role … there’s a hint of that kind of insanity in his character.”

For those who don’t know about Anthony Hopkins’ Instagram, it’s not uncommon to see the Academy Award- And Emmy-winning actor dancing carelessly through his living room. When asked if one particular video sparked anything for Yarovesky, he mentioned videos like that: “There wasn’t one, but I was imagining him dancing like that in his house after he’s caught Eddie.”

If you’re wondering why Hopkins’ character would behave like that, it’s because, “He doesn’t care anymore,” Yarovesky said. The reason why is best left for the film to reveal, but Yarovesky continued discussing his approach, saying, “He doesn’t have ot play by society’s rules anymore. He can be who he wants to be, and the thing he wants is to have fun. And if he’s doing this for fun, he has to be having fun. He couldn’t be just this Hannibal Lector sort of character. It had to come from a different place. He’s a sociopath, but he’s [joyful].”

Locked’s Custom Car Was Sold To Pay For The Movie

“We Were In Constant Financial Struggles”

“Making independent movies [is] very, very, very, very, very hard,” Yarovesky said after explaining the fate that befell Locked’s other other main character, the custom Dolus SUV. The director shared how much of a challenge a тιԍнт budget and production schedule created, saying, “We were in constant financial struggles to be able to make this movie. We had to shoot it in 19 days. It was a constant challenge. And I believe the producers sold the care to help [continue] to finance the movie.”

The car was sold during post-production–so filming was already wrapped–but Yarovesky shared a good point he told the producers: “I told them, ‘This thing’s going to be worth a lot more after the movie comes out,’” but, unfortunately, “we needed more money. It was so тιԍнт.”

Did Yarovesky Just Make The Best Case Yet For Hollywood’s Remake Culture?

“I’m A Huge Fan Of Remakes”

Locked is a remake of the Argentinian film 4×4, but if you watch the two trailers back-to-back, you’ll notice some nearly identical sH๏τs and other places where Locked appears to diverge from its source material. When asked where he wanted to deviate from the original, Yarovesky began with, “I think the original filmmakers did an unbelievable job. Especially with the resources they had. I loved what they made.” Interestingly, Yarovesky didn’t watch 4×4 until after he read the script for Locked: “I wanted to be really targeted and specific with how I allowed myself to watch it.”

“I’m a huge fan of remakes,” the director said, before adding that criticism of an unoriginal Hollywood is, “the most obvious take on planet Earth … if you go any deeper than that, you would know that every single movie is a remake. That every movie that you see has been pitched as ‘This meets this’. And if you talk to any director ever, they’ll tell you, ‘Oh, you like that scene? I’m just doing this here.’”

“You like the end of Brightburn?” Yaravosky continued, “Well, that’s the end of Jurᴀssic Park. I stole it from Steven Spielberg and it’s not as good as Jurᴀssic Park, but that was my inspiration and that’s what it is. And some of my favorite movies are reboots. Sure, there are ones that I don’t like, but from Scorsese’s Cape Fear to Cronenberg’s The Fly, to James Gunn’s Dawn of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.”

But Locked is not just a reboot. “There’s the setup, there’s the premise, there are a couple of moments that are definitely in there as an homage to the incredible job the previous filmmakers did,” Yarovesky explained, “and there were things in it that I loved that wouldn’t be true to the movie I was making. And I had to tell my story.”

Deep down, the director was inspired by his own life experience: “When I was younger, someone broke in and stole my Xbox. It’s not a huge deal, but when that happened to me, that was a lot of money for me, and I felt like a victim. I didn’t want to go into that part of the house because it felt like something [bad]. I could channel what I felt like in that moment and go, ‘What if I can catch that guy in a box? How would it really play out, and how tense would that be?”

Yarovesky Hopes To Reunite With Mentor And Brightburn Producer James Gunn

“It Could Happen”

The movie that put Yarovesky on the map for many viewers was Brightburn, the horrific take on a Superman-like figure turned evil that was produced by James Gunn. Of course, Gunn has been hard at work on the real Superman due to his power position at DC Studios. When asked if Yarovesky may reunited with Gunn in a more official DC capacity, the director said the following: “Am I trying to get into the DC world? Yeah. I mean, if the right thing came along.”

“I’d love to work with James again,” Yarovesky continued, “He’s my mentor. I adore James, and he has been incredible to me. That’s really what it is–finding that right thing. But it could happen. He’s been really spending a lot of time making a movie called Superman, and it’s so funny that we made Brightburn and now he’s making Superman.”

It does seem like a twist of fate as, in Yarovesky’s words, “We were kind of the punk rock anti-establishment thing,” and now Gunn is essentially building the establishment. Naturally, “it changes the tone of what it is, but if ever someone reaches out to me and says, ‘Hey, we’re going to do another Brightburn,’ the answer is already yes. I’d love to do it, and I’d love to work with James, and if I’m lucky enough to be working at DC, that’d be pretty cool too.”