You know, it's beginning to look like Snake Plissken didn't have it so hard after all. Oh sure, if we are to believe John Carpenter's 1981 Escape from New York, it's totally difficult to get out of the high-security prison that the Big Apple becomes in the future - but how hard can it be, if Len Wiseman, Brett Ratner and now Gerard Butler can all escape it?
Yup, following in the footsteps of two of Hollywood's most... two Hollywood directors, Gerard Butler has announced that he is leaving the Escape From New York remake due to "creative differences". We're not sure what those were - perhaps the studio wanted him to do an Irish accent, and Butler learned on PS I Love You that there are some things that even Spartan kings can't do. Or maybe they wanted to dress Snake in leather pants, and he thought it was time for a change.
Whatever the reason, we're officially moving this remake off our "Lucky Escape" list (whereon it had landed after Ratner's departure) and onto our "Troubled Production" list (because if the directors of Underworld and Rush Hour 3 and the star of Timeline are balking, you've got problems).
But T3 director Jonathan Mostow's been brought on to rewrite the script and possibly direct, so maybe there's still hope for Snake's return. But perhaps not much. What do you think, people? Is Snake really dead?