Escape from New York is being remade by Robert… | Little White Lies

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Escape from New York is being remade by Robert Rodriguez

27 Mar 2017

Words by Jack Godwin

Man with long hair and eyepatch, set against a blue background.
Man with long hair and eyepatch, set against a blue background.
John Carpenter’s clas­sic sci-fi is being reboot­ed – but who will play eye-patched anti­hero Snake Plissken?

True to form, Hol­ly­wood con­tin­ues to churn out remakes which lit­er­al­ly no one asked to be made. Well, except Robert Rodriguez, who has been cho­sen to helm a new ver­sion of John Carpenter’s anti-author­i­tar­i­an 80s action­er, Escape from New York.

The orig­i­nal fol­lows Snake Plissken (Kurt Rus­sell), an eye­patch-wear­ing for­mer spe­cial forces oper­a­tive who is caught try­ing to rob the Fed­er­al Reserve.

In Carpenter’s dystopi­an vision of 1997, a sharp spike in crime has lead New York City to be con­vert­ed into a giant max­i­mum-secu­ri­ty prison. When Air Force One crash lands in the city, Plissken is con­script­ed to res­cue the Pres­i­dent of the Unit­ed States at any cost.

Luthers Neil Cross is writ­ing the script for Rodriguez’s remake, which will report­ed­ly fea­ture a new vil­lain and a slight­ly altered plot. In this ver­sion New York is not a mega-prison but an AI-con­trolled state.

This time around the focus will not be on soar­ing crime rates but rather the increase in refugees seek­ing asy­lum in the US. The pro­duc­tion com­pa­ny 20th Cen­tu­ry Fox is hop­ing that this remake will set off a pop­u­lar fran­chise in the vein of the Plan­et of the Apes pre­quel series.

Rodriguez has said that the orig­i­nal Escape From New York is the film that made him want to become a direc­tor. Car­pen­ter will be serve as exec­u­tive pro­duc­er, and will sup­pos­ed­ly have a big say on its tone.

While Carpenter’s involve­ment is a good sign, Rodriguez’s recent out­put has left a lot to be desired (his last fea­ture was 2014’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), so we’re scep­ti­cal as to how this one will turn out.

Per­haps the most intrigu­ing project on Rodriguez’s slate is 100 Years star­ring John Malkovich, which is being billed as the movie you will nev­er see’ due to the fact it’s sched­uled for release in the year 2115.

What are your thoughts on the prospect of an Escape from New York remake? Have your say @LWLies

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