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'Escape from New York' gets a director
Len Wiseman

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'Escape from New York' gets a director

'Die Hard 4.0' helmer Len Wiseman will direct the further adventures of Snake in a remake of 'Escape From New York'

'Die Hard 4.0' helmer Len Wiseman has signed up to direct an utterly unnecessary remake of John Carpenter’s hard-boiled action classic 'Escape From New York'.

The original 1981 flick starred Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, a dangerous convict sent to a maximum security prison on Manhattan to rescue the President when his plane is shot down by terrorists.

A modest hit at the time of its release, the film has since developed legendary cult status thanks to utterly original dialogue and plotting from Carpenter, drop dead cool cameos from the likes of Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Donald Pleasance and Ernest Borgnine and a career-defining central performance from Russell.

'300' star Gerard Butler will take over the role of the toughest son of a bitch on the planet, while Ken Nolan ('Black Hawk Down') will re-tool the script, merging the original plot with an origin story for Snake. However, when remaking the original is tantamount to re-painting the Mona Lisa or re-building the pyramids, one wonders why they are bothering.

Author: Chris Tilly


User comments on this story

  • MATT LANE said...
    Why,Why,Why make a remake of a Cult Classic. I suupose it is for the New Generation of Movie goers, and I give the Thumbs up for Len Weisman who done a great Film with Die Hard 4 . One word of warning to you though len. It better be good otherwise you could be dissapointed with the outset, Good luck Posted on Aug 21 2007 09:25
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  • David F said...
    Remakes have always been a lazy way of presenting a new audience with something to watch. On rare occassions these remakes have been worthwhile and bring something useful to the cinematic experience-even it's just a cross-generational fellowship of film lovers. Today's remakes though seem to be being made whilst the projectors showing the original version are still cooling down. In actual fact re-makes of re-makes are doing this e.g. King Kong. By and large they add nothing to the original format other than CGI which is frequently less impressive than the effects originally created and generally, it feels like "hollywood" is fast becoming some ailing film star basking in it's past glory. The sad thing is, the ailment is becoming more insidious with strange terminology coming to light e.g. Re-Imaginging as used to justify the theft of a classic concept concerning simian superiority. Justify it how you will film people, however please don't ever believe that you're doing anything other than copying little tommy's homework. You may pass the exam, but will never be tommy-Just the cheat who passed tommy's work off as your own. And the credit you get is not real. Just re-imagined to suit your own laziness. Posted on Aug 19 2007 14:42
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