'Escape From New York' Reboot Loses Its Directors

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 9, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 9, 2024 |

Reboots are tricky. To get a reboot right you have to find a way to have your cake and eat it too. You must give the old fans enough of what they’ve grown to love while ensnaring new readers with something fresh and exciting. They don’t work that often. Sometimes they are outright rejected or ignored. A reboot is even harder to get right when the property you’re rebooting is so beloved it’s difficult for fans to shake their image of the original. That could be said about John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.

Released in 1981, Escape From New York takes place in the not-too-distant future, 1997. The United States is riddled with crime. Manhattan has become a maximum security prison. The president’s plane crashes into the walled-off mega-jail, and former Special Forces soldier and current federal criminal, Snake Plissken, is sent in to save him.

The film was successful and has only grown in popularity since. Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell, is as iconic as they come. It only makes sense that it would someday get the reboot treatment. Almost two years ago, it was announced that Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) would direct a reboot of the film for 20th Century Studios. That is no longer the case.

The pair sat down with Comicbook.com and were asked about their work on the film. Gillett told the site that they were no longer working on the film. “We are not, unfortunately. 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. There’s a clock on it and we just weren’t in a position to make the clock, ultimately. 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.”

The duo does not have an upcoming project announced, but they likely won’t be hurting for work. Their latest film, Abigail, was well-liked by critics and fans. Something will work out for them, but it won’t be with the help of Snake Plissken.