Escape from New York remake

News

Len Wiseman Making Escape From New York
Source: Variety
August 15, 2007


Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) will direct New Line remake Escape From New York, which will star Gerard Butler (300) and be produced by Neal Moritz.

Black Hawk Down screenwriter Ken Nolan is penning the script. Executive producers include Original's Ori Marmur; Ron Halpern and Frederic Sichler of Canal Plus, which held the remake rights; and John Carpenter, who directed the original 1981 film.

Butler is portraying Snake Plissken, the convict and war hero who's sent into a futuristic Manhattan -- which has been turned into a giant maximum security prison -- to rescue the president of the U.S. after his plane is knocked down by terrorists.

The original starred Kurt Russell and was set in 1998.

Wiseman previously directed Underworld and Underworld: Evolution.

Butler is a great casting choice, but I'm a little iffy about Wiseman! Live Free or Die Hard was okay and I'm not much of a fan of the Underworld movies. I just hope they don't neuter Snake Plissken like they did with John Mclane. PG-13, gimme a break it's Die Hard for Pete's sake! It's too bad they didn't reteam Butler with 300 director Zach Snyder, I bet he could direct a kickass Escape remake, and not shy away from a good old fashioned R rating like it should have!

Damn. To hell with Wiseman. Leave Escape From New York alone! Bah.

What a mess! I'm REALLY tired: where is the cursed immagination of the Hollywood minds? Why to remake the great movies of the past!?!
I'm agree with ResidentAlien, there's only one Snake Plissken, the name's Kurt Russel.

Although I've always been intrigued by Escape from New York's old VHS cover in the video store as a kid and although I did see it's sequel back in '96 on the big screen, I've only seen the original yesterday...
I came across the DVD at a ridiculous price and bought it...

I really liked the atmosphere and the fact that you really feel it was made in the transitional period from the 70's movies such as Soylent Green into the typical 80's action flicks.
A bit like The Warriors, really... Another classic I saw relatively late.

Anyway, great film!

The only thing I found a bit disappointing was that the iconic poster image isn't in the movie... Until the last minute I was waiting for it...

I don't know what to think about the upcoming sequel though...
Normally, I'm pretty much against remakes but this one just might work...
I mean- the concept of Manhattan being a dark and trashed prison island is a very strong one and just might be depicted better with today's technology and budget...
Don't get me wrong... I did like the way it was rendered in the original, but I feel the idea could be exploited even better in ways that were never possible back then.

On the other hand there wil never be a better Plissken than Russell...
And another con is that they will never ever get the same feeling and atmosphere the original had... It will be a completely different sort of film...

Gee, I don't know...
In any case, I have a better feeling about a Escape remake than with the remake of 'The Karate Kid' Will Smith had in mind!
And while I never got the the reason why they ever remade 'Halloween', 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Psycho', I can come up with a few arguments in favor of the Escape remake...

Maybe we'll finally get to see the shot of Plissken running in front of a fallen Statue of Liberty, like Carpenter promised us 27 years ago

When is John Carpenter himself - the vintage Carpenter - planning to return to glory? The likes of Ghosts From Mars just ain't gonna cut it...

The Man said:

When is John Carpenter himself - the vintage Carpenter - planning to return to glory? The likes of Ghosts From Mars just ain't gonna cut it...

Click to expand...

Good question.

Y'know... He always said Snake Plissken is one of his fondest creations...
Why doesn't he set up his return to glory by helming the Escape remake himself?

That way everybody's happy!
At least I'd be...

He's supposedly working on a horror-thriller called Psychopath that's been in development for a few years now.

The current rumor is that Josh Brolin(!) is a candidate to play Snake. Jeez, that's even worse than Gerard Butler. I say just let Carpenter and Russell make their planned Escape From Earth movie already.

How about they don't remake anything and just make another Escape movie????



Kurt Russell could still be snake! Harrison is still Indy and he is older than Russell

Nurhachi1991 said:

How about they don't remake anything and just make another Escape movie????



Kurt Russell could still be snake! Harrison is still Indy and he is older than Russell

Click to expand...

Where could Snake best escape from next?

So they're remaking The Thing, and Escape From New York. Well, Hollywood, why don't you just stab a knife into my heart and announce plans to remake Big Trouble In Little China while you're at it, huh?

Go ahead. Murder me, bend me over, and **** my sweet ass. Because that would actually be preferable to a remake of EFNY.

Nurhachi1991 said:

How about they don't remake anything and just make another Escape movie????



Kurt Russell could still be snake! Harrison is still Indy and he is older than Russell

Click to expand...

1. Escape From L.A. bombed. Big time. We're talking Hiroshima here.

2. Kurt hasn't aged nearly as well as Ford.



(FYI, you can find a nudie pic of Kurt on image search. I did not know that. It's from now though, so not hot.)

Ok so the movie would be escape from Dunkin Donuts I don't know......





I liked escape from L.A. waaaaaaay more than escape from New York.

I like Escape From L.A., but it would have been better if the studio had not cut Carpenter's budget at the last minute. I think it really shows in the effects.

|ZiR| said:

2. Kurt hasn't aged nearly as well as Ford.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, and there's no such thing as working out and getting back into shape. Kurt built himself into a brick for Soldier, and Snake doesn't even require that much muscle.

The Man said:

Where could Snake best escape from next?

Click to expand...

The rumor for years has been Escape From Earth. Carpenter and Russell had mentioned it sometime after Escape From L.A., and the planned animated movie a few years ago was supposed to utilize their script for it.

Michael24 said:

I like Escape From L.A., but it would have been better if the studio had not cut Carpenter's budget at the last minute. I think it really shows in the effects.

Click to expand...

I believe a good deal of Carpenter's genius comes from being able to work around budgetary restrictions and come up with inventive, less expensive ways to do effects.

Oh yeah, and there's no such thing as working out and getting back into shape. Kurt built himself into a brick for Soldier, and Snake doesn't even require that much muscle.

Click to expand...

True enough, but I wonder if the will is still there. He's never stopped acting, so why didn't he try harder to stay in shape?

The rumor for years has been Escape From Earth. Carpenter and Russell had mentioned it sometime after Escape From L.A., and the planned animated movie a few years ago was supposed to utilize their script for it.

Click to expand...

What? There was going to be an animated movie?

|ZiR| said:

I believe a good deal of Carpenter's genius comes from being able to work around budgetary restrictions and come up with inventive, less expensive ways to do effects.

Click to expand...

True enough (he certainly did well after the studio cut his budget on Vampires), and I am a Carpenter fan. He's one of my favorite directors. I just thought some of the effects in Escape From L.A. (like the surfing scene) looked a little shoddy. I'd like to see a third Snake movie go back to the dark and gritty, shot-on-the-run style of the first film.

|ZiR| said:

What? There was going to be an animated movie?

Click to expand...

A few years ago there was sort of a Snake resurgence. There was a (short-lived) comic book called The Snake Plissken Chronicles, which had been retooled from a failed television series. There were also plans to launch a series of books, a video game, and an animated movie that would feature the voice/likeness of Kurt Russell. I guess after the comic failed to generated much interest (I think only 3 or 4 issues were published), everything else just sort of fell apart.

fixer79 said:

The only thing I found a bit disappointing was that the iconic poster image isn't in the movie... Until the last minute I was waiting for it... film...

Click to expand...

*smells a future EFNY/Cloverfield edit*

And Josh Brolin would be great! Have you guys missed 2007 or something? Josh basically owned the year with Planet Terror, No Country for Old Men, and American Gangster. The man has chops on top of chops.

Agent Z said:

*smells a future EFNY/Cloverfield edit*

And Josh Brolin would be great! Have you guys missed 2007 or something? Josh basically owned the year with Planet Terror, No Country for Old Men, and American Gangster. The man has chops on top of chops.

Click to expand...

Every time someone mentions Josh Brolin I have to think of the kid with the headband in The Goonies...

Still... he's probably the best choise to take over the role of Plissken... He is to my knowledge the actor that best resembles Russell...
Unless -of course- they'd go for an unknown, but I kinda doubt that...

Anyhoo... You guys should really check out this Escape fansite. Pretty cool stuff...

http://www.theefnylapage.com

It even has deleted scene stuff, concept art and info on the Escape from Earth projects Michael was talking about.

-Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
-The Fog (2005)
-Halloween (2007)
-Escape From New York (2009)
-The Thing (2009)
-In The Mouth of Madness (TBA)
-Christine (TBA)


John Carpenter will always be one of my true favorites but I don't think I'll ever understand how he is so willing to see his filmography carelessly rehashed. It's sad to see a talented filmmaker choose an easy paycheck over a new project just because he's growing older. I'd rather see him retire than produce degrading remakes of beloved films.
At least Carpenter's supposedly working on a new picture, L.A. Gothic. That's something to look forward to -- even if it's another Ghosts of Mars, I'll take it.

Rumpled Fedora said:

-Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
-The Fog (2005)
-Halloween (2007)
-Escape From New York (2009)
-The Thing (2009)
-In The Mouth of Madness (TBA)
-Christine (TBA)


John Carpenter will always be one of my true favorites but I don't think I'll ever understand how he is so willing to see his filmography carelessly rehashed. It's sad to see a talented filmmaker choose an easy paycheck over a new project just because he's growing older. I'd rather see him retire than produce degrading remakes of beloved films.
At least Carpenter's supposedly working on a new picture, L.A. Gothic. That's something to look forward to -- even if it's another Ghosts of Mars, I'll take it.

Click to expand...

Ahh, but at least the Assault remake had her...

Michael24 said:

True enough (he certainly did well after the studio cut his budget on Vampires), and I am a Carpenter fan. He's one of my favorite directors. I just thought some of the effects in Escape From L.A. (like the surfing scene) looked a little shoddy. I'd like to see a third Snake movie go back to the dark and gritty, shot-on-the-run style of the first film.


A few years ago there was sort of a Snake resurgence. There was a (short-lived) comic book called The Snake Plissken Chronicles, which had been retooled from a failed television series. There were also plans to launch a series of books, a video game, and an animated movie that would feature the voice/likeness of Kurt Russell. I guess after the comic failed to generated much interest (I think only 3 or 4 issues were published), everything else just sort of fell apart.

Click to expand...

Actually, the reason the comic book went away was the company (Hurricane Comics) went out of business