The Remake Of An Untouchable Kurt Russell Classic Is Hunting For A New Director ... Again
It looks like Snake Plissken will be trapped in New York a bit longer: a planned reboot of the John Carpenter classic "Escape From New York" has lost its directors again, according to ComicBook.com. "Scream" legacy sequel directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who are better known as Radio Silence (the name of their production group), were attached to the project as of 2022, but say they're no longer officially on board.
"We are not [developing it], unfortunately," Gillett told the outlet in a new interview, explaining, "I think titles like that bounce around for a while and I think they've tried to get that out of the blocks a few times. I think it's just ultimately a tricky rights issue thing." It sounds like it's not that Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin aren't interested in pursuing the project, but that they weren't able to make it within a set window of time before the rights to the film expired or were otherwise complicated. The film was originally distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures, but The Wrap wrote in 2015 that the studio then called 20th Century Fox had secured the rights to "Escape From New York." Of course, that company was soon absorbed into Disney. "There's a clock on it and we just weren't in a position to make the clock, ultimately," Gillett said.
This is understandable, as the filmmaking duo has definitely been busy since plans for the film were first announced. The pair directed the box office hit "Scream VI" in 2023, and most recently delivered the vampire girl horror comedy "Abigail," which has earned rave reviews (including one from /Film's B.J. Colangelo). They've also continued producing sequel installments of the "V/H/S" series, the anthology horror franchise that put the directors on the map back in 2012.
The Escape From New York remake has been in the works for ages
This isn't the first time Carpenter's awesome, kinetic 1981 sci-fi thriller has almost been remade, or the first time a potential remake hasn't come to fruition. Back in 2019, another popular name in the horror world, Leigh Whannell, was bandied about in connection to an "Escape From New York" remake, but in 2020, the "Invisible Man" and "Saw" franchise filmmaker admitted he had a healthy fear of trying to replicate the magic of the Kurt Russell-led original and later dropped out. Before Whannell was attached to write the film's script, the remake was also connected to Robert Rodriguez and even Brett Ratner.
It's now been years since news of an "Escape From New York" remake first broke. The comments from Gillett are the closest we've gotten so far to an explanation for what's kept the film in what seems to be development hell, but rights issues and compressed timeline aside, it seems like remaking the movie may just not be a good idea. "Escape From New York" is phenomenal in a distinctly '80s way, and it's tough to imagine any version made today living up to it. Gillett ultimately took a "never say never" approach to the idea, though, telling ComicBook.com:
But who knows? I think, in hindsight, it feels crazy that we would think we would, post-'Scream,' step into a John Carpenter franchise. You never know. There's still interest in it and we've had a few conversations about it but we're not attached in any official capacity."
For now, the movie seems to once again be back to the drawing board. Luckily, fans can go watch the original (which is on Freevee and The Criterion Channel) anytime while we wait to see if the remake ever happens.