Snake Plissken may finally be getting out of development hell. After years of stalled remake attempts, Zack Snyder has come aboard to write and direct a new reimagining of “Escape From New York,” John Carpenter’s 1981 dystopian action classic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The project is being put together now and is expected to be launched in the coming weeks, with the intent of giving the film a theatrical release. The Picture Company partners Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman will produce through their overall deal with StudioCanal, which controls the underlying rights alongside Carpenter. Snyder will also produce with his Stone Quarry partners, Deborah Snyder and Wesley Coller, while Carpenter will serve as an executive producer. StudioCanal had no comment.
The original film was set in a then-future 1997, where Manhattan had been turned into an island-sized maximum-security prison. When the President of the United States crash-lands in the decaying city with sensitive information that could change the world, former military hero-turned-outlaw Snake Plissken is forced into a rescue mission that pits him against gangs, soldiers, and old associates.
“Escape From New York” starred Kurt Russell as Plissken, creating one of the defining antiheroes of ’80s genre cinema, with Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, and Adrienne Barbeau also starring. Carpenter and Russell later returned for the 1996 sequel “Escape From L.A.”
Snyder’s take is being kept under wraps, but THR reports that he aims to make a more down-and-dirty movie, using plenty of practical effects and real locations. That approach would put the film closer to his 2004 feature debut, “Dawn Of The Dead,” than to his larger superhero work like “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” or “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.”
Hollywood has tried to revive “Escape From New York” for years. Previous versions saw Len Wiseman, Brett Ratner, Breck Eisner, Robert Rodriguez, Leigh Whannell, and Radio Silence all circling the property at different points, with Gerard Butler once attached to play Plissken.
No casting has been announced, which leaves the biggest question unanswered: who plays Snake? For now, the new “Escape From New York” has Snyder, Carpenter, StudioCanal, and a theatrical plan—more momentum than the remake has had in years.
