StudioCanal has announced that a renewed attempt to reboot John Carpenter’s Escape From New York is in the works. Just in time for the original film’s 45th anniversary, StudioCanal has announced plans for an Escape From New York reboot. The project was announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where StudioCanal execs Anna Marsh and Hugh ... Escape From New York | There are still plans for a reboot
StudioCanal has announced that a renewed attempt to reboot John Carpenter’s Escape From New York is in the works.
Just in time for the original film’s 45th anniversary, StudioCanal has announced plans for an Escape From New York reboot. The project was announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where StudioCanal execs Anna Marsh and Hugh Spearing also mentioned a fourth Paddington film – a sequel to 2024’s Paddington In Peru.
The new Escape From New York will, per The Hollywood Reporter, be made in conjunction with The Picture Company – presumably to settle rights issues that have clouded the property for years.
Released in 1981, Escape From New York was director John Carpenter’s most ambitious movie up to that point – particularly given the modest $6m he had to play with. In a dystopian future, Manhattan has become a gigantic prison; in a dreadful stroke of luck, the US President (played with Nixonian slipperiness by Donald Pleasance) has crashed behind its walls. A tough convict, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is sent in to mount a rescue attempt.
In the wake of the disappointing sequel – 1996’s Escape From LA – there have been multiple attempts to revive the miniature franchise for a new generation. In the late 2000s, Gerard Butler was said to be taking on the Plissken role. By 2010, The Crazies director Breck Eisner was at the helm, and there was talk of Timothy Olyphant of playing the scowling anti-hero.
The stories have continued to pop up ever since. Len Wiseman, Robert Rodriguez and Leigh Whannell have all been attached at some point. Most recently, Ready Or Not and Abigail directing team Radio Silence were talking about a new Escape. By May 2024, however, they had also dropped out – the given reason being those knotty rights issues mentioned above.
StudioCanal and The Picture Company’s take on Escape From New York, assuming it finally gets going, will likely be years away yet. In the interim, we’ll always have the achingly cool original – a film so cool that it inspired the Metal Gear videogame franchise, which may get its own movie. And also inspired Lockout – a French sci-fi action thriller deemed so similar to Escape that writer-producer Luc Besson was taken to court (and lost).
More on Escape From New York as we get it.
