Escape From New York has been on the remake train for quite a while now. Fox and Studio Canal have both had cracks and the latest murmurs date back to January 2015. Now the film is back on track it seems and Robert Rodriguez is being courted to enter John Carpenter’s world to bring Snake Plissken back to life.
Rodriguez is currently putting the finishing touches on Alita: Battle Angel starring Roza Salazar, but seems to be ready to sign on to remake the dystopian future that turned both New York and LA into prison/exile zones according to Variety:
Fox is targeting summer for the start of production, with Michael Ireland overseeing the film. The project has been in the works at the studio since 2015, when Fox obtained the remake rights to “Escape From New York,” starring Kurt Russell as “Snake” Plissken. StudioCanal sold the rights to Fox, which topped several bids.
Carpenter will exec produce the reboot. Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman’s The Picture Company is also producing. Neil Cross, creator of the BBC crime series “Luther,” wrote the script.
This remake was already slated to be far different from its predecessor — either a great thing or the worst mistake possible — and would’ve featured Thandie Newton as the new Duke of New York. No word on that still being the case, but Neil Cross’ script was the one making the rounds last year.
As Slash Film points out, this could be a great move for Rodriguez and a vote of confidence for Alita: Battle Angel. They might already be impressed with what he’s bringing to the table and this is could be the reward. It’s either that or we’re in for another decade of rumors and false starts.
(Via Variety / Slash Film)
