Hide your eyepatches and brace your eardrums for some intense, bass-boosted needle drops. Zack Snyder has officially signed on to write and direct a total reimagining of John Carpenter’s dystopian sci-fi masterpiece, Escape from New York. Because if there is one thing modern Hollywood firmly believes, it’s that absolutely no classic should be left un-rebooted.
Announced by StudioCanal, the project is being developed specifically for a theatrical release. The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman are producing alongside Snyder, Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller (Stone Quarry). In a move that will hopefully keep the project from completely veering off the rails, John Carpenter himself is on board as an executive producer.
The Ultimate Cynical Anti-Hero
For those who need a refresher on why the original film. It has long been considered untouchable; the 1981 classic introduced the world to S.D. “Snake” Plissken (immortalized by Kurt Russell’s peak-badass charisma and a perfectly placed eyepatch).
The premise was perfection. Manhattan has been walled off and turned into a giant, lawless maximum-security prison. When Air Force One crashes on the island, the government forces Snake—a cynical, decorated war vet turned federal convict—to enter the chaos and rescue the President. Made for $6 million, it hauled in over $50 million, spawned the 1996 sequel Escape from L.A., and influenced decades of genre cinema.
A Long, Exhausting Road to a Reboot
Hollywood has actually been trying to recycle Snake Plissken’s name tag for decades. Over the years, everyone from Robert Rodriguez and Joel Silver to Leigh Whannell and Radio Silence has taken a crack. However, it repeatedly stalls in development hell.
Snyder, known for Justice League and 300, is currently wrapping up post-production on The Last Photograph, a drama starring Stuart Martin and Fra Fee. Once he’s done with that, he’ll be trading the jungle for the dystopian concrete of New York.
Reboot Fatigue is Real
The remake/reboot fatigue is very real, and touching a sacred, synthy, cigarette-smoke-stained relic like John Carpenter’s Escape from New York feels like walking into a cinema minefield. But stay tuned. Snake Plissken might have thought he was out, but the studio system keeps pulling him right back in. If you want to rewatch the original, you can find it on Prime and Roku. Here’s a look back at the original film’s trailer.
