and Avery's son Jordan to him, and asks him to show sympathy. Broadway, likely affected by the appeals of Krista to exonerate Avery and help his son have a father, hangs himself in prison after he writes a confession to the murder. Charles Pierce and his daughter bring the confession to a judge who grants Avery a release. However, tensions run high in the prison with the power vacuum after Graffiti's death and soon a riot spontaneously develops in the prison yard, with prisoners from rival gangs jumping in to settle their scores. In the chaos, during which a number of COs and prisoners are killed, including the young inmate that Avery was mentoring, as well as Perez, Cashmere attacks Avery with a shank and they get into a mortal combat. Cashmere is about to kill his former friend when he has a change of heart and wavers. Clean Up then shows up and attacks Cashmere and Avery but ends up being stabbed to death by Cashmere. Cashmere and Avery are about to embrace but a prison guard shoots Cashmere dead, thinking he was going to attack Avery. Avery is shortly released. He enjoys swimming in the pool again and the company of Krista and his son. Cast Richard T. Jones as Avery Montgomery Gabriel Casseus as Cashmere De'Aundre Bonds as Andre "Dre" Wells Melissa De Sousa as Krista Wells Bill Nunn as Charles Pierce Clifton Powell as Malachi Young Sticky Fingaz as Broadway Joe Torry as Alize Master P as Clean-Up David "Shark" Fralick as Graffiti Andrew Divoff as Mexican Gendarme (Graffiti friend) Lloyd Avery II as Nate Dianna St. Hilaire as Martina Production The film's prison scenes were shot on location at the then-closed down New Mexico State Penitentiary." Release Lockdown was screened at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival and released September 15, 2000 internationally. It closed out the 2001 Hollywood Black Film Festival. Lockdown was released in the U.S. on February 14, 2003. Box office At the end of its box office run, Lockdown earned a gross of $44948 in North America. For the opening weekend of February 14–16, 2003, the film grossed $199,000 while playing in 750 theaters. Critical reaction On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 58% approval rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post wrote, "What makes the movie memorable is its authenticity."