Timothy Olyphant could be taking on the lead role of Snake Plissken in Breck Eisner’s remake of Escape From New York .
The part was originally played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s 1981 film, which had the one-eyed soldier attempting to escape a futuristic prison based in an abandoned New York City.
With Eisner and Olyphant having worked together on this year’s surprisingly decent The Crazies , it seems both are keen to re-pair for future projects.
And Escape could be just that project. Eisner spoke to Movieweb recently, stating:
“I love working with Timothy Olyphant, and I will be working with him again. He is an amazing actor. A talented guy. And he’s incredibly funny. He needs to do a great comedy, because he is a funny guy. But I will work with him again. I can promise you that.”
This re-do will shake up the original’s concept, with the remake cannibalising a Snake Plissken origins story with bits of the 1981’s original plot. ( Vulture , who saw the script, said it “nailed the humour in Plissken without slipping into camp”.)
Speaking recently to ComingSoon , Eisner explained other changes, which include setting the movie in a penal colony rather than a post-apocalyptic New York.
“Conceptually, it’s an idea that’s not true today because of the world we live in. So, how the prison is created is going to be different than in Carpenter’s version. The anxiety of the world and anxiety of our existence post-9/11 is there, especially the anxiety in Manhattan post-9/11.
“Plot-wise, they’re different, emotionally they’re very similar. That’s why it’ll be interesting to tackle this movie, to have a slightly different take but with the same results which is Manhattan is turned into a walled prison.”
With these two on board, could this be a rare good remake? We’re ever hopeful…
Think Olyphant would make for a great Snake?
