/Film brings us news today on the upcoming remake of the 1980’s film Escape From New York. Coming straight from the director himself, Breck Eisner (The Crazies), we get some additional information on the upcoming film. The story for the remake will be more of an origin story for the main character, Snake Pilssken while adding in some plot elements from the original.When it was announced that the post-apocalyptic Manhattan that was seen in the original would be replaced with an intact, though undesireable Manhattan in this one, as it was created after the detonation of the bomb, the news was met with negative fan reactions. Part of what made the original work was the thrill of seeing the post-apocalyptic Manhattan.
Talking to Coming Soon, Eisner explained where he wants the film to go:
Conceptually, it’s an idea that’s not true today because of the world we live in. So, how the prison is created is going to be different than in Carpenter’s version. The anxiety of the world and anxiety of our existence post-9/11 is there, especially the anxiety in Manhattan post-9/11. Plot-wise, they’re different, emotionally they’re very similar. That’s why it’ll be interesting to tackle this movie, to have a slightly different take but with the same results which is Manhattan is turned into a walled prison.
What’s more interesting is that Eisner talked about re-teaming with his star from The Crazies, Timothy Olyphant. Eisner is hoping Olyphant will take the lead role of Snake Pilssken. Eisner was quoted as saying:
I love working with Timothy Olyphant and I will be working with him again. He is an amazing actor. A talented guy. And he’s incredibly funny. He needs to do a great comedy, because he is a funny guy. But I will work with him again. I can promise you that. Creatively, he would be great for it. We have not yet discussed internally within the studio who will play Snake Plissken. There are many factors that go into those discussions. First and foremost, obviously, is the creative one. We can’t make the movie unless we get the perfect Snake Plissken, and that’s a tall order. There are very few guys that could do it. He would definitely be one of the guys who could. There is no question about that.
This is pretty exciting as I’m a big fan of Olyphant and I think he would kill in the role. I also quite enjoyed The Crazies and I think Eisner and Olyphant make a good team.
The original Escape From New York is a great movie and one that really needs to be remade. While doing away with the post-apocalyptic New York may not be the best call, I’ll still give the people behind the film the benefit of the doubt and hope that it turns out for the best.
What do you think? Do you want to see this remake?