Kurt Russell Made His Opinion Clear On An Escape From New York Remake

Bring up the films of John Carpenter to any movie buff worth their weight in celluloid, and once they finish praying in the direction of Bowling Green, Kentucky, they'll start in on the essentials –- i.e. every movie in his oeuvre stretching from 1974's "Dark Star" to 1988's "They Live." From here, they'll single out 1994's "In the Mouth of Madness" as a return to peak form after the disappointing "Memoirs of an Invisible Man," and maybe share kind words about "Escape from L.A." "Vampires," "Ghosts of Mars," and, heck, even "The Ward." But that '74 — '88 run is considered sacrosanct. You don't dispute this, and if you're fortunate enough to be a working filmmaker, you think long and hard about the wisdom of remaking one of these classics should a studio ever offer you the opportunity.

This is because Carpenter's aesthetic is inimitable. The widescreen compositions, the long takes, the eerie atmosphere, and the terseness of his storytelling (he's never made a movie that ran over two hours) are anathema to today's dominant shoot-for-the-edit style. And even if you make a passable facsimile (as Jean-François Richet did with 2005's "Assault on Precinct 13"), why devote a year of your life to chasing perfection when kicking back and watching the original is so much more pleasurable?

As for monkeying with Carpenter's Kurt Russell trilogy... just don't. You can't. "Escape from New York," "The Thing" and "Big Trouble in Little China" are feats of Budweiser-fueled telepathy. You'll never get on their wavelength, and there's only one Russell. This hasn't stopped Hollywood from trying to recreate these lightning-in-a-bottle conditions, but thus far it's yet to succeed in greenlighting full-on remakes. And if you ask Russell how he feels about it, well, he doesn't feel great about it at all!

In a 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Russell was asked to opine on the then plans to redo "The Thing" and "Escape from New York." The former became a half-assed prequel, while the latter has, thankfully, after several different attempts, yet to go before cameras.

17 years ago, Russell joked, "They're remaking everything I've ever done." Then, after acknowledging that people "get territorial and proprietary about these things" as they get on in years, he addressed the Snake in the room. And he was candid:

"I will say that when I was told who was going to play Snake Plissken, my initial reaction was 'Oh, man!' [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American."

He's referring to Gerard Butler, the Scottish movie star who's since found a crowd-pleasing groove as a jut-jawed, B-movie action hero. I like Butler in loopy nonsense like "Olympus Has Fallen" and sleazy delights like "Den of Thieves" (a sequel to which is on the way). He plays an immensely enjoyable garrulous jerk. But he'd be all wrong for the laconic Plissken.

Fortunately, the "Escape from New York" remake is once again in mothballs (Radio Silence was attached to direct, but they're now off the project). But should the producers take another shot at any point in the near future, unless he's softened on the subject since '07, you can count on Russell wanting nothing to do with it. As he told EW when asked if he'd be open to playing another role in the remake:

"F*** that! I am Snake Plissken! It's like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond. I think one of the things, for instance, about 'Escape From New York' that appealed to me was that it wasn't a special effects extravaganza. It's a quiet, dark world and it revolved around watching the behavior of this one guy. He's a fascinating character. In fact, he's the most complex character I've ever played."

I'd argue that the corrupt LAPD Sergeant Eldon Perry in Ron Shelton's "Dark Blue" is the most complex character in his filmography (one that probably could have earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor had the film not pulled up poorly in the last 15 minutes), but he will get only a full-throated "Amen" from me on the subject of Snake Plissken. There can be only one, and Carpenter fans will accept no substitutes.