John Carpenter To Produce ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK Remake For 20th Century Fox

I was interviewing John Carpenter the other evening (more on that soon) and I asked him if he was developing any potential projects. He was rather coy in his response and I got the feeling that he was working on something new. A few hours later news dropped that he would be the Executive Producer on the remake of Escape From New York (the rights have just been picked up by 20th Century Fox).

At the minute the film has no writer or director but it’s safe to assume that people will start dream casting Snake Plissken. A remake of Carpenter’s 1981 film has been in the pipeline for the best part of a decade and Gerard Butler was in the frame at one point to take on the role first made famous by Kurt Russell. Nothing came to pass but I expect that you’ll see movement on this rather than later as Fox try to get a franchise up and running to sit beside the likes of Planet of the Apes, X-Men and the soon to be released The Fantastic Four.

I’d rather not see an Escape From New York remake – a sequel with Kurt Russell returning to his trademark role is much more appealing. However, if we need a one then it’s probably best that Carpenter is involved in some capacity and it’s a smart move by 20 Century Fox to get him onboard as his name adds legitimacy. The last ten years have seen remakes of Carpenter’s Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog and The Thing – Escape From New York might actually buck the trend and be good.

Source: Deadline