Luther Creator To Write Escape From New York Remake

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If you heard the ‘Escape From New York’ remake was dead, looks like you heard wrong…

Long in development at 20th Century Fox, a new take on John Carpenter’s dystopian sci-fi thriller has no director or star attached yet, but according to The Hollywood Reporter it now has a writer in the form of Neil Cross.

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While British writer Cross has one movie credit to his name, as co-screenwriter of 2013 horror movie ‘Mama’ produced by Guillermo del Toro, most of his credits are as a novelist and a TV writer.

Most notably, Cross is the creator of hit BBC detective series ‘Luther’ starring Idris Elba. (Cue the ‘Elba for Snake Plissken’ rumours…)

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Set in the then-far away date of 1997, the 1981 cult classic ‘Escape from New York’ centres on a walled-off New York City which has been repurposed as the one maximum security prison for the entire USA.

Kurt Russell stars as Plissken, a grizzled anti-hero unwillingly contracted to enter the city to rescue Donald Pleasance’s US President, who has been taken hostage by the gang of marauders headed by Isaac Hayes’ self-appointed Duke of New York.

Carpenter and Russell reunited on the largely inferior follow-up ‘Escape From LA’ in 1996.

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Talk of an ‘Escape From New York’ remake initially surfaced in 2007, with Hollywood veteran Joel Silver to produce, Len Wiseman (’Underworld,’ ‘Die Hard 4.0′) to direct, and Gerard Butler to star as Snake Plissken. However, this incarnation faltered and fell apart.

Subsequent directors linked to the remake include Brett Ratner, Jonathan Mostow and Breck Eisner, whilst Jeremy Renner, Charlie Hunnam, Jon Bernthal and Dan Stevens have all been tipped for the role of Plissken.

And of course this is not the only John Carpenter remake on the coals in Hollywood, as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is known to be developing a new take on the director’s 1986 cult favourite ‘Big Trouble in Little China.’

THR tells us that 20th Century Fox is “aiming high” with the ‘Escape From New York’ remake. There has long been word that a trilogy is planned, and the studio hopes to repeat the success they’ve had with their recent reboot of the ‘Planet of the Apes’ series.

We await official news of director and cast with open ears.

Picture Credit: AVCO Embassy Pictures, Peta Mazey