After many years of rumors and denies about a remake for John Carpenter’s classic Escape from New York (1981), the wait has come to an end. And it has been confirmed by John Carpenter himself, so it’s expected to finally will be made true. The adventures of Snake Plissken, probably the best anti-hero ever seen on the big screen in the movies Escape from New York (1981) and its follow-up Escape from L.A. (1996), is not an easy task to remake. The chemistry between the director, the big Master of Horror John Carpenter, and the actor who also mastered the character, Kurt Russell, is almost impossible to reproduce. But if a remake or reboot was necessary (which I think was not), who better than Robert Rodríguez to be in charge of it?
Director Robert Rodríguez has stated publicly many times his admiration and devotion to both John Carpenter films and the character of Snake Plissken. Especially when together with Quentin Tarantino made the Double Feature project Grindhouse. Robert Rodríguez’s Planet Terror (2007) was some sort of “Escape From….” film with zombies, rocket girls and lots of actions. While Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof (2007) was an absolute homage to the character of Snake Plissken, even using the same actor to star it, Kurt Russell.
Even John Carpenter expressed “excitedness” regarding the announcement, as he mentioned in Twitter:
Robert Rodriguez is going to direct ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. I’m excited about this. Robert is great!
— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) March 25, 2017
At the moment there are not many pieces of information regarding this remake. Gerard Butler was long time rumored to be the one to wear Snake Plissken’s boots, but that idea already seems scrapped out. So far, we only know the script writing duties will be for Neil Cross, creator of the TV series Luther (2010–2016). But we will have to wait to see what Robert Rodríguez can do with this Escape from New York (1981) remake, because currently, he is in the post-production of his latest film, Alita: Battle Angel (2018). Co-written by Laeta Kalogridis and James Cameron, and based on the manga by Yukito Kishiro, the movie is expected to hit theaters in the summer of 2018. Starring Jennifer Connelly, Michelle Rodriguez, Christoph Waltz and Casper Van Dien, this will be the first time the popular manga gets a feature film version. But that’s another story…
It’s always nice to remember the classics that gave us so much joy, so find here the trailer for original John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981):
