Escape from New York is one of my favorite movies, so I’m glad the remake appears to have finally died in development. The original 1981 John Carpenter movie has one of the all-time great movie hooks; the most dangerous convict in the world, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), is forced to rescue the kidnapped President from New York, which has been walled off and turned into a hellish prison. Escape from New York is one of Carpenter’s best, filled with great sequences and dialogue.

I’ve always felt that one minor flaw is that the film’s modest budget meant it couldn’t fully use its setting. Escape From New York’s action is relatively small-scale, and it doesn’t take audiences to some of the city’s most iconic locations, like Central Park or the subway. In theory, a big-budget reboot could really flesh out the concept and make it much larger, but the Escape from New York reboot has been trapped in development hell for decades.

Escape From New York’s Remake Never Sounded Like A Good Idea

Leigh Whannell’s Escape From New York update is a relief

The remake has cycled through many potential actors and directors too, with the directing team Radio Silence being the latest to exit (or escape) the project. Another directing candidate was Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man), who told ComicBook that while he would still consider making the film, “it’s not happening” for now – or possibly ever. After about 20 years of development, I take this as good news. In truth, none of the pitches for an Escape From New York reboot sounded like good ideas.

There was producer Joel Silver’s trilogy plan (via Empire), which included a prequel revealing how Snake lost his eye. There was Neil Cross’ script for director Robert Rodriguez, which swapped out the bleak prison for a gleaming utopia taken over by terrorists and drones. There was even a script where Snake was already serving time in New York and was more of an overt hero. Of all the concepts I heard for the reboot, the best was from writer Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down), who basically copied the original screenplay but beefed it up with more expensive action scenes.

What Makes Escape From New York A 1980s Action Classic

There’s just no escaping the John Carpenter/Kurt Russell original

Escape From New York is one of five movies John Carpenter and Kurt Russell made together, and while The Thing will always be my favorite, EFNY is a close second. The reason it works so well isn’t impressive action or effects; it’s the characters, the worldbuilding, and the general vibes. A new version could add bigger explosions, but it would never find an actor who could best Russell and a remake would never recapture what made Escape From New York so damn cool.

There’s Plissken’s glib one-liners, the eerily deserted city, the supporting cast – including Lee Van Cleef and Harry Dean Stanton – the various chase sequences, and so forth. I’ve lost count of the number of films that borrowed or outright ripped the film off too, from Suicide Squad to Doomsday or 2012’s Lockout; Carpenter even successfully sued the production company behind the latter for copyright infringement. None of them have come close, and outside of mild curiosity for what a more expensive version would look like, I’d just fine rewatching the original Escape from New York again.

The only thing that’s really measured up to it is the video game Batman: Arkham City, where the caped crusader becomes trapped inside the тιтular walled-off prison. If any filmmaker could do something different or interesting with Escape From New York, it would be Whannell, but even so, I’m glad to hear it (probably) won’t happen now. After all, the last thing the world needs is another disappointing remake of a John Carpenter classic.

Source: ComicBook, Empire