Escape From New York Remake

JP Liz V1

Source Total Film

Timothy Olyphant could be taking on the lead role of Snake Plissken in Breck Eisner’s remake of Escape From New York.
The part was originally played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s 1981 film, which had the one-eyed soldier attempting to escape a futuristic prison based in an abandoned New York City.
With Eisner and Olyphant having worked together on this year’s surprisingly decent The Crazies, it seems both are keen to re-pair for future projects.
And Escape could be just that project. Eisner spoke to Movieweb recently, stating:
“I love working with Timothy Olyphant, and I will be working with him again. He is an amazing actor. A talented guy. And he’s incredibly funny. He needs to do a great comedy, because he is a funny guy. But I will work with him again. I can promise you that.”
This re-do will shake up the original’s concept, with the remake cannibalising a Snake Plissken origins story with bits of the 1981’s original plot. (Vulture, who saw the script, said it “nailed the humour in Plissken without slipping into camp”.)
Speaking recently to ComingSoon, Eisner explained other changes, which include setting the movie in a penal colony rather than a post-apocalyptic New York.
“Conceptually, it’s an idea that’s not true today because of the world we live in. So, how the prison is created is going to be different than in Carpenter’s version. The anxiety of the world and anxiety of our existence post-9/11 is there, especially the anxiety in Manhattan post-9/11.
“Plot-wise, they’re different, emotionally they’re very similar. That’s why it’ll be interesting to tackle this movie, to have a slightly different take but with the same results which is Manhattan is turned into a walled prison.”

Gerald Butler was original wanted for the role. I like Timothy Olyphant but Kurt Russell is and will always be Snake Plissken

Skinfull

I love the Olyphant. But I don't want to see him as Snake. :mad:

I just wish to got they wouldn't remake this one.

dlofnep

Could be fun, but just wouldn't be the same without Russell. I do like Butler though, he's a decent actor.

plissken

This remake has been mooted for a good few years now but never have I been so dismissive of it until that quote about the setting of Manhattan not being possible in a post 9/11 world and so their choosing the easy route of some insipid penal colony. I'm making the not too bold claim right now that this film will have none of the charm or charisma of the original and without Kurt Russells involvement I doubt it'll even be as watchable as Escape from LA.

Fysh

Ugh.

Do we really need another Escape from New York remake after the awfulness that was Escape From LA? Especially one with Timothy Olyphant? (He may have done something good since, but the only thing I recall seeing him in was that woeful Hitman movie and that Walker: Texas RangerJustified nonsense that's on TV at the minute...)

Skinfull

Thats because it wont have that awesome surfing scene

Wonga

I think Escape from LA was so bad it should have killed off any chance for remakes or sequels. It's like remaking the Wicker Man - theres just no reason for it.

GAAman

Wonga wrote: »

I think Escape from LA was so bad it should have killed off any chance for remakes or sequels. It's like remaking the Wicker Man any classic movie - theres just no reason for it.

In my opinion

Renn

No reason to remake The Wicker Man?

humanji

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Source Total Film



Gerald Butler was original wanted for the role. I like Timothy Olyphant but Kurt Russell is and will always be Snake Plissken

I thought he was dead?

To be honest, I wouldn't mind too much if it's remade but I'd like it if they took the basic idea and made something different as opposed to just taking the original and putting a new cast in it. I like Olyphant, but can't see him as the Plissken of the original.

Oh, and Fysh, you'll be happy to know that Olyphant may be in the sequel to Hitman, too.

Fysh

humanji wrote: »

Oh, and Fysh, you'll be happy to know that Olyphant may be in the sequel to Hitman, too.

Oh god, there's a sequel on the way? Jesus, when it comes to bad game adaptations the original Hitman is somewhere up there with Super Mario Brothers. I mean, yes, you can argue that it captured certain details of the game very faithfully, but it also failed to tell any kind of story that was engaging in its own right

Nichololas

Fysh wrote: »

Oh god, there's a sequel on the way? Jesus, when it comes to bad game adaptations the original Hitman is somewhere up there with Super Mario Brothers. I mean, yes, you can argue that it captured certain details of the game very faithfully, but it also failed to tell any kind of story that was engaging in its own right

I'm confused. Are you saying that the Super Mario Brothers movie is bad? Hitman is bad because it took the core concepts of the game, then removed all the good parts and made a bad action flick. Super Mario Brothers is good because it took the 2d platformer as the seed of an idea then did cartwheels down the rabbit hole with it.

mike65

Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft! The 1981 movie is on ITV4 again soon. Watch that and pray for no remakes.

pixelburp

Let's not forget either that Escape from New York featured a classic John Carpenter soundtrack with an equally classic theme-tune. If the thought of a half-assed remake has me shivering in fear, the idea of some Hollywood hack (or worse, a flavour-of-the-day pop artist) butchering that seminal tune fills me panicy dread.

Ahhh John Carpenter, what happened you man? One minute you're making Halloween, Escape from New York, The Fog, The Thing to name but four, next thing you're making Ghosts of Mars. Yeeeesh.

Generally though, I am 100% against a remake: part of the reason I enjoy EFNY is that although it's an 80s movie, the tone is so deeply 70s; dark, dirty & dangerous. New York back then really was a hellhole - it's easy to forget with our weekend breaks and Sex & The City overload that NY was once a no-go area in many respects - so EFNY just played on topical & real fears for the city. Not to mention mixing in the Cold Wars fears & setting. The movie is very much of its time

It also had a low-budget grubbiness (thanks to being filmed around a burnt-out set of warehouses in St. Louis) - everything really was patched up and second-hand - that you just can't recreate these days. If you simply have to remake a movie like this, I'd rather another low-budget attempt; instead the studio will no doubt funnel cash into over-designed CGI vistas & action set pieces. Yawn.

Fysh

Nichololas wrote: »

I'm confused. Are you saying that the Super Mario Brothers movie is bad? Hitman is bad because it took the core concepts of the game, then removed all the good parts and made a bad action flick. Super Mario Brothers is good because it took the 2d platformer as the seed of an idea then did cartwheels down the rabbit hole with it.

No, I'm not saying it's merely "bad", I'm saying it was f***ing TERRIBLE. You can try and claim that the group ingestion of psychoactive narcotics that evidently preceded the attempt to dissect the games and find elements that could be translated to a screenplay was a good idea, but such claims will fall on deaf ears here.

For context: I paid cash moneys to watch that damn film when it came out in the cinema. As if that wasn't bad enough, She Who Must Be Obeyed insisted on picking it up on DVD a few months back (for less than £4, thank God for small mercies at least) and we watched it with a friend. Time has not been kind to that film, and its awful 90s conceits and atrocious attempt to fuse the atmosphere and setting of Blade Runner with the characters and basic conflicts of the Super Mario Bros franchise look even worse now than they did the first time around.

FWIW: only one argument in defence of Super Mario Bros is known to stand up to any sort of scrutiny, and it is documented here.

mike65

Pixelburp nails it, Carpenter was a demon for his early film scores.

Trailer for 1981 film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mapn1DY4zgE

They could never top that cast anyway so why even try?

paddyismaddy

i hope this dont happen its a classic that shouldnt be remade

Karl Hungus

I'm trying to figure out if a remake could possibly be any worse than the dreadful sequel.

indough

unfortunately it can always get worse...LA was so bad that not even the presence of bruce campbell and steve buscemi managed to redeem it

indough

i seem to remember pam grier being in it as well? but needless to say i only watched it once so my memories of it are vague

_Kaiser_

They really should just leave this one alone - the original is a classic (and I didn't mind LA, contrary to the popular opinion here, it wasn't THAT bad! )

All these remakes and reboots and prequels.. is there no originality left in film?
Next thing you know they'll start butchering films like Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Lethal Weapon, Goodfellas etc

humanji

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

They really should just leave this one alone - the original is a classic (and I didn't mind LA, contrary to the popular opinion here, it wasn't THAT bad! )

All these remakes and reboots and prequels.. is there no originality left in film?
Next thing you know they'll start butchering films like Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Lethal Weapon, Goodfellas etc

Well they're in the process of making Beverly Hills Cop 4, so it's only a matter of time.

steveoracle

No-body can replace Kurt Russell in EFNY, part was made for him . . .