It seems like only yesterday that Charlie Hunnam, AKA Jax Teller, was the rumored and eventually short-lived lead pissing all of the fangirls off for the Fifty Shades of Grey film adaptation. This week, there’s a good chance that he’s going to be the guy pissing off all of the fans of John Carpenter’s Escape movies, because the reboot that we were warned about in 2013 is still happening, and the hot “SOURCES!” rumor of the day has Hunnam as the studio hopeful to bro walk the president to safety in Escape from New York.
Still in the hands of producer Joel Silver and StudioCanal, the movie is reportedly not only going to tell the story of how Snake Plissken gets the president beyond the walls of dystopian NYC, but it will also, as foretold earlier this year, borrow from the general theme of the video game Arkham City, in that it will tell us how the Big Apple went to hell.
According to STARLOG, Silver Pictures and StudioCanal have Hunnam as their top choice to fill Kurt Russell’s tall leather boots, and they’re so set on bringing Jax Teller on board that a “source” claims that artwork has already been commissioned.
So while a guy with a black marker draws an eyepatch over just about any still from Sons of Anarchy, the real obstacle is scheduling. Hunnam is obviously already on board for Pacific Rim 2, but he is also in “final negotiations” to play Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur, according to Deadline, so his plate is pretty full. STARLOG’s “source” says that if Hunnam, who wouldn’t be the worst choice if this reboot absolutely has to happen, can’t do it, the rest of the short list is Jon Bernthal from The Walking Dead (and the very disappointing Mob City) and Dan Stevens from The Guest.
Normally, source-based rumors like these deserve to be taken with a grain of salt, but STARLOG’s entire report basically reads like the first edition of a studio’s press release. Otherwise, the site is going all-in on everything from the rumored lead to the details of the plot, and that seems like a lot of work for a coin flip.
“Plissken’s team consists of Mina, a warzone journalist framed for murder and living in the shadows of New York as a scavenger; Cabbie, a schizophrenic travel guide who serves as comic relief; Gareth, the last surviving member of the President’s security detail who harbors a dangerous secret; and The Brain, Plissken’s former partner-in-crime who left him to die after a botched robbery.” (Via STARLOG)
I can already hear Johnny Knoxville’s voice as Cabbie. None of this seems far-fetched at all, so let’s all just brace for the news that Hunnam is taking the role, but only because they agreed to give Snake a CGI talking dog named Rufus. In the meantime, here’s my own concept art for Silver Pictures to use. You’re welcome, Joel.