Call me Snake. It’s been a number of years since we last saw one-eyed Snake Plissken, the surly man with a past and a habit of getting himself thrown into sealed city super-prisons. 1996 was that year, as John Carpenter directed the sequel Escape from LA, that ended with Snake pulling the ol’ “EMP blast the entire planet with this handy little gizmo” switcheroo on humanity.
And now? It looks like the reboot rumours are once again heating up.
Released way back in 1981, the original Escape From New York starred Russell as the criminally-inclined Snake Plissken, a convict with very specific skills towards murder and mayhem, sent in to the New York city super-prison to go and rescue the president of the US of A.
A while back, it looked like Breck “The Crazies” Eisner was going to direct a remake, with Lens “Total Recall” Wiseman also looking like a lock opposite Gerard Butler who would have starred as the new Plissken, Dammit I’d actually have liked to have seen a Scottish version of the character. “Call me Snake ya wee wanker”.
Right now though, it looks like action movie mogul Joel Silver and his Silver Pictures productions are going to be going forth with the reboot alongside Studio Canal for New Line Cinema. According to Deadline, Silver will as usual executive produce, joined by Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman in that department as well.
Believe it or not, I’d like to see a reboot of this franchise. The original film is pretty dated, even by the standards of today, and the sequel was less than well-received. Of course, while I’m hoping that whoever takes over doesn’t cock this one up, that’s something that has me worried.
I can just see it now. Epileptic camera techniques, smog everywhere and a lead actor who somehow got the costume department to put eye patches on both his oculars.
Last Updated: March 19, 2013
James Francis
March 19, 2013 at 14:49
Fuck no, not unless Russell plays Snake again. Then at least it won’t be another ‘reboot’. Plus, why screw with Carpenter’s stuff? No!
Skyblue
March 19, 2013 at 22:20
Charlie Hunnam would be awesome as Snake Plissken, he hardly gives a fuck in the last season of Sons of Anarchy already and he can be a scary mofo
Lourens Corleone
March 20, 2013 at 08:12
I watched the original recently and I love it, but it is very dated. Bring on a (good) reboot!
ultraviolet
February 13, 2015 at 14:02
back when John Carpenter was directing Kurt Russell he was epic!
joel silver might have a hard time finding anyone as good for the role