The Iconic Kurt Russell Movie You Didn't Know Was Getting A Remake
Set in a near future where the island of Manhattan is now a prison within a totalitarian United States, the 1981 action film "Escape From New York" is one of John Carpenter's best movies, which is really saying a lot considering his filmography includes "Halloween" and "The Thing."
"Escape from New York" stars the one, the only Kurt Russell as "Snake" Plissken, a one-eyed army veteran turned convict, legendary for trying to rob the Federal Reserve. Snake now despises the government he once served, but is offered a full pardon if he can get the now captive President — and the vital information he carries — out of Manhattan. The big complication is he needs to do it in 24 hours, or else the explosives they've implanted in him will detonate.
With actors like Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, and Western legend Lee Van Cleef rounding out its cast, "Escape From New York" was a box office hit and even inspired a 1996 sequel, "Escape From L.A."
What you may not know, however, was that a remake has been in development for quite some time. Here's the latest about the new version of "Escape From New York."
Leigh Whannell is attached but the project hasn't moved forward
Rumors first circulated about a new remake of "Escape From New York” in 2015. Then in 2017, Deadline reported that "Alita: Battle Angel" director Robert Rodriguez was attached, with Carpenter signed on as an executive producer.
Most recently, Leigh Whannell, the filmmaker behind "The Invisible Man" and "Upgrade," was a name in circulation around the movie. However, in a report from 2020, the director said little had happened to push production forward.
He explained to The Wrap," "It was something that was instigated, and the train left the station before it was ready...I'm a big fan of 'Escape From New York,' but I'm not concretely sure that this will be my next film. If it was in the works, I'd tell you, but it's something that's just sitting on a shelf at the moment." When Whannell later suggested that Kurt Russell's son, Wyatt Russell, should play Snake in the new film, the young "Falcon and The Winter Soldier" actor vehemently rejected the notion.
For now, the remake of "Escape From New York" is dormant, though Carpenter mused recently that "there's probably a third or maybe even a fourth story about Snake" (Movie Web). Hopefully we'll get to see those soon, in whatever form it takes.