The attempt to make a new version of John Carpenter's cult action movie Escape From New York has been dragging on for more than a decade, tossed between different studios and filmmakers like a hot potato. 20th Century Fox is aiming to get closer than ever, with Robert Rodriguez working on a deal to direct.
1991's Escape, one of Carpenter's collaborations with leading man Kurt Russell, saw the actor playing the iconic Snake Plissken, a gruff, one-eyed tough guy convict in a futuristic world (well, 1997) who is offered a deal: rescue the president, whose plane has crashed in New York, and which has become a maximum security prison. The catch? If he fails, he's been fitted with a bomb that will be detonated...
Fox nabbed the rights to the remake back in 2015 and Luther's Neil Cross is still attached to write the script, though Rodriguez will probably do his own pass if it all works out. According to Deadline, the plan is for the new Escape to kick off a franchise.
Rodriguez has already been busy in the sci-fi world for the studio; he's in post-production on Alita: Battle Angel, adapted from the manga. That one will arrive here in July 2018.
Escape Attempts: The Saga Of The Escape From New York Remake