A couple years back, New Line Cinema was trying to remake John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi actioner Escape from New York. They first hired Live Free or Die Hard helmer Len Wiseman, who got replaced with Brett Ratner. I wasn’t excited about either of the two filmmakers rebooting Snake Plissken, although Wiseman’s production design background made him the better choice of the two. This is a time right after 300 made huge bank at the box office, resulting in the casting of Gerard Butler as the new Plissken. The project thankfully fell into the wayside, never to be heard from again… until now.
Breck Eisner, director of The Crazies, has signed on to direct the remake of Escape from New York, set up with producer Neal H. Moritz‘s Original Films. HeatVision says they will be sticking with Allan Loeb‘s draft, which “tries to mix an origin story for anti-hero Snake Plissken and merge it with the story of the 1981 original.”
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Weekend Weirdness’ favorite J.C. directed a nearly three hour epic about The King starring his main man Snake Plissken, and yet the film was at risk of being forgotten by younger generations. How could this occur when the movie in question, John Carpenter‘s Elvis, is arguably a better country music biopic than Walk the Line, and exudes an unpretentious but fetching style reminiscent of Hal Ashby’s Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory? Well, until this week, Elvis wasn’t available on DVD, and the film’s prior home video presence was spotty at best.
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A couple years back, New Line Cinema was trying to remake John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi actioner Escape from New York. They first hired Live Free or Die Hard helmer Len Wiseman, who got replaced with Brett Ratner. I wasn’t excited about either of the two filmmakers rebooting Snake Plissken, although Wiseman’s production design background made him the better choice of the two. This is a time right after 300 made huge bank at the box office, resulting in the casting of Gerard Butler as the new Plissken. The project thankfully fell into the wayside, never to be heard from again… until now.
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Goodie Bag has created a fantastic video called “Hollywood vs. New York”, featuring four decades of celluloid New York annihilation distilled into one musical montage. Watch the destruction now after the jump.
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Dan Meth has created a movie timeline for futuristic movies, proving that the future presented in sci-fi classics are rooted in alternatie parrellel universes. Check out the full timeline after the jump.
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Cloxboy’s Hope For a Better tomorrow t-shirt is available on Dutch Southern. The shirt features three retro future heros, Mel Gibson from The Road Warrior, Charlton Heston from Planet of the Apes, and Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken from Escape From New York. Thanks to the mac addict from the Alamo Drafthouse, whose name I can’t remember, for the tip.
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The curse of One-Eyed Willie…
UPDATE: The reader consensus seems to be 1) no, it’s not cool, this remake is utterly pointless and a disgrace, 2) where the hell will Snake “land the glider,” 3) Brolin is too old (not really understanding this one), 4) FTW, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell should team up to make Escape From Boston or Escape From Earth (good to see our readers’ idealism staying strong!).
This rumor is a wild red hair that sprouted from the pale leg of Spielberg News, but we’ll entertain it for now because it’s late at night, this remake is happening, and the casting would be pritty, pritty good. In a role that would nicely connect the eye-patched dots to his salad days on The Goonies, actor Josh Brolin is rumored to be the top contender to play dystopian, one-eyed rogue, Snake Plissken, in the planned remake of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York. Throughout the end of last year, Gerard Butler (300, The Game) was attached to Plissken, as were directors Brett Ratner (we coined it Escape From Brett Ratner) and Len Wisemen (Live Free or Die Censored), both of whom are no longer in the equation (thanks). This is how the site’s scoop translates from French to English…
“It is our scoop of the week. A source close to the production (if so) has assured us that it is now Josh Brolin to be in the running to take over the role of Snake Plissken in the remake currently in draft New York 1997.”
There are a lot of top actors taking on genre fare these days, but we’ve always been keen on Brolin for hypothetical franchise roles like Metal Gear Solid‘s Solid Snake. Whereas the success of Butler’s casting as Plissken would be fully realized only by a really cool director, Brolin’s involvement, if it pans out, would give the remake unforseen cache. Though New Line is dismantled, the remake is purportedly going ahead, so we’ll update accordingly. Brolin will next be seen on screen this Fall as Dubbya (he botched a lay-up) in Oliver Stone’s W.
Discuss: Would any of you be upset if this was true? It’d be pretty cool, no? Okay, people are mad down below. Let’s say this remake happens no matter what: who would you choose?
“No way!”
With one of the choicest “stranded on an island with entertainment center” filmographies, genre or otherwise, director John Carpenter is without a doubt a fave here at Slashfilm. Next month, the man himself will be on hand for two out of four nights to wax awesome on his various ’80s era classics at a film festival presented by non-profit American Cinematheque (nice effort!) and Santa Monica’s Aero Theater. Unfortunately, They Live (probably my fave of his) is not being shown, but one really can’t moan the slightest about such a rare opportunity. Here’s the schedule…
Friday, June 13th, 7:30 p.m.
The Thing and The Fog
Carpenter will discuss films between showings
Saturday, June 14th, 7:30 p.m.
Escape From New York and Escape From L.A.
Carpenter will discuss films between showings
Sunday, June 15th, 7:30 p.m.
Halloween and Christine (no speaker, but how sick is this double feature!?)
Wednesday, June 18th, 7:30 pm.
Big Trouble in Little China and Assault on Precinct 13
AOP13‘s Austin Stoker will discuss between films
Hopefully, everyone reading this site has seen these films. If not, make like Chainsaw and Dave this summer and join the club. If you’ll be attending one or more of these screenings with Carpenter shoot us an email after with a report. For more info, go here.
