Although they weren’t all financial or critical successes at the time, John Carpenter‘s directorial output in the 1970s and 1980s is now considered one of the finest runs of any 20th century director. Unsurprisingly, they’ve also been fertile ground for prequels, remakes, and sequels, with films like Halloween, The Thing, and Assault on Precinct 13 providing grist for the mill in the 21st century. Now, Zack Snyder, who made his directorial debut with a remake of the George Romero horror classic Dawn of the Dead, will take on one of Carpenter‘s crown jewels.
According to reports, Snyder is set to helm a remake of the 1981 science fiction actioner Escape From New York. Snyder, who developed a fervent following after directing the DC films Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, most recently directed the Rebel Moon duology for Netflix; his latest movie, the drama The Last Photograph, will be released later this year. He may be the man to crack the nut of an Escape From New York remake, which has been lingering in Development Hell for decades. Len Wiseman, Brett Ratner, and Robert Rodriguez were all signed on to direct the remake at various times; at one point, Gerard Butler had been tapped to star. Most recently, Scream‘s Radio Silence were tapped for the remake, but they have since moved on to resurrect The Mummy for Universal.
What Is ‘Escape From New York’ About?
Frequent Carpenter collaborator Kurt Russell stars as one-eyed soldier of fortune Snake Plissken, who is brought in by the US government to recover the US President (Donald Pleasence) from New York City. The bad news is that in the then-future of 1997, Manhattan has been converted into a maximum security prison. The worse news is that to ensure his compliance, Snake has been injected with micro-explosives that will blow him up if he doesn’t get the President back in before the deadline. Once he gets in, Snake recruits a ragtag band of allies, including Cabbie (Ernest Borgnine), Brain (Harry Dean Stanton), and Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau) to get the President out of the clutches of the tyrannical Duke (Isaac Hayes). The film was a critical and commercial hit; Carpenter himself followed it up with a 1996 sequel, Escape From L.A.
Studiocanal, which owns the rights to the original film, is developing the remake. Snyder will produce with Deborah Snyder and Wesley Coller for Stone Quarry, while Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman will produce for The Picture Company. Carpenter will executive produce.
A remake of Escape From New York is in development.
via Collider