Radio Silence to Direct John Carpenter’s ‘Escape From New York’ Reboot

Filmmaking team Radio Silence, or Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett and Chad Villella, is set to direct 20th Century Fox’s reboot of John Carpenter’s cult classic “Escape From New York,” according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

The studio won a bidding war for rights to the reboot in early 2015, with Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman’s The Picture Company set to produce.

Neal Cross, creator of the BBC crime series “Luther,” wrote the previous drafts of the script. The search for a new writer is underway.

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Kurt Russell starred as the iconic one-eyed anti-hero Snake Plissken in the original Dystopian action film, released by Avco Embassy in 1981. Studiocanal owned the rights to the film, which had several suitors, and was won by Fox on the back of the studio’s competitive bid.

Carpenter, who also directed classics including “Halloween” and “Assault on Precinct 13,” will serve as an executive producer on the reboot. Steve Asbell and J.R. Young are overseeing the “Escape From New York” reboot for 20th Century Studios.

Set 16 years in the future, the original “Escape From New York” imagined Manhattan after it had been turned into a maximum security prison. When the U.S. President’s plane crashes on the island, Plissken — a hardened, wise-cracking criminal — is tasked with bringing the Commander-in-Chief home safely. Carpenter directed the film and co-wote with Nick Castle. Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Lee Van Cleef and Adrienne Barbeau co-starred.

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Radio Silence most recently relaunched the “Scream” horror franchise earlier this year which was a smash hit at the box office for Paramount and grossed $140 million worldwide on just a $24 million budget.

Radio Silence is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Giant Freakin’ Robot first reported the news.