Escape From New York Remake Just Won’t Die
John Carpenter’s triumphant return to the big screen is still expected to come later this year with The Ward, but despite the fact that the horror legend hasn’t directed a movie himself since 2001, his presence has been felt throughout that time period with a number of remakes. From The Fog to Halloween to Assault on Precinct 13, his filmography has been plundered time and time again, and alas, it appears that another long-rumoured J.C. redo is starting to rev its engines all over again.
A few years back, an Escape from New York remake was being set up with Brett Ratner in the director’s chair and Gerard Butler attached to star, but fortunately it didn’t work out. Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Surrogates) supposedly tried to pick up the pieces and rewrite it, but nothing came of that either. Now we’re hearing that New Line is giving it one more try, with pre-production gearing up thanks to a new take on the script from Allan Loeb (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 21).
According to Vulture, Loeb has found a way to keep it funny without being campy, and also make Manhattan an evacuated city rather than a radioactive wasteland destroyed by World War III. Here’s the good news though: John Carpenter required a contract to be signed stipulating that Plissken must be named Snake, must wear an eye patch, and must “always be a bad-ass”. Follow those three rules and you might just have a winner on your hands!
Comments (5)
well if i ever have a son, my wife and i will sign that same contract
Posted by Mike on February 10th, 2010Leave it alone, leave it alone, leave it alone.
PLEASE. GOD. LEAVE. IT. ALONE!!!!
Posted by Fatbologna on February 10th, 2010Blah. I’m a little curious if there is a count of how many reboots/remakes are in the pipe in Hollywood these days?
I can think of several announced recently, including Jaws, Spiderman, Superman and this film. Not to mention the ones that will be hitting the screen this year such as The Karate Kid and Clash of the Titans.
Am I the only one who thinks that all these ‘reboots’ are simply studios hoping to cash in (again) on their more well-known IPs? The idea to make something that could be made better is rarely a concern. Reusing the same or very similar story is often a given, and better does not equal CGI in place of practical effects alone.
This formula is getting a bit tired and taking space/money/talent away from original stories imho. Things like Spiderman or Superman seem to me to be useless to reboot as there is likely not going to be a better story OR f/x.
Why not just make a sequel for those franchises at the very least? Unless, of course, they want to tread very familiar ground?
I truly hope people will be a bit smarter than to support this sort of thing with their wallets. Probably not though.
Posted by Rob on February 11th, 2010Rob,
This has been going on for the better part of this whole decade, dude. People WILL keep supporting it and the studios WILL keep making remakes. Some will be good, most will be bad, and many will soon be in 3D only bolstering the profits and thereby strengthening the studios’ resolve in producing more of these things. This trend shows no sign of stopping. It’ll stop eventually, but not for a loooooong time…
Posted by Fatbologna on February 11th, 2010I thought there was supposed to be an EFNY remake starring Gerard Butler as Snake. Guess that idea died as this is not related? I always thought Escape from LA could have been a really great movie but some of it’s ideas were that good and the effects were awful. It seems like such an easy concept to goof on, but Carpenter went for the easy jokes in satirizing all the typical LA/SoCal stereotypes.
Posted by Maopheus on February 11th, 2010Leave a Reply