Yet another studio is attempting to remake John Carpenter's "Escape from New York." According to an article at Deadline, Fox has successfully bid on the rights to the franchise, and while it's still in the very early stages of development, John Carpenter is supposed to be on board as an executive producer who will "exert creative influence" over the project. Predictably, it's described as an attempt at a franchise...the 1981 original generated a coolly-received sequel, a novelization, a comic series, and was a huge influence on the "Metal Gear" series of video games designed by Hideo Kojima, but this is described as a completely new reboot.
"Escape from New York" has been tossed around Hollywood for the last several years. New Line Cinema originally bought the rights for a remake, but it passed to Joel Silver's Silver Pictures in 2013. Last year, rumors suggested that Silver Pictures was still working on the project, identifying "Sons of Anarchy's" Charlie Hunnam, "Downton Abbey's" Dan Stevens, and "The Walking Dead's" Jon Bernthal as the possible new Snake Plissken. Deadline said that its sources have rejected those rumors, saying there's not even a completed script for the project yet, and this new team is "starting from scratch."
The original film, set in a dystopian, 1997 Manhattan, starred Kurt Russell as special forces veteran Plissken, who is sent onto the island to rescue the president and a tape that could start World War III. Besides Russell, the movie boasted a strong cast of supporting actors, including Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Harry Dean Stanton, Donald Pleasence, and musician Isaac Hayes.
