Remember that Escape From New York remake that’s been brewing in development for a while now? Honestly, you may not. It’s been almost a decade since the project first materialized and there really hasn’t been a whole lot of movement on it since. Various directors have come and gone (Brett Ratner and Breck Eisner were both attached at various stages), and even big name stars like Tom Hardy and Charlie Hunnam have flirted it, but here we are, nearly 10 years later and still nothing substantial has happened.
Apparently, Luther‘s Neil Cross is hard at work writing the current draft of the script for Fox, and it seems that finally – finally! – there’s some progress being made. To start off, The Wrap is reporting today that the remake is actually going to be more of a prequel. As such, New York City won’t have been turned into a maximum security prison yet. Instead, it’s actually going to be “breathtakingly lovely” with some futuristic vibes, like drones flying around the city and AI that keeps a watch over everything.
While New York is still relatively safe, the rest of the world isn’t so lucky. Bloody Disgusting mentions that when the film opens up, “one in every seventy five human beings is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum.” Not only that, but Superstorm Ellery is quickly approaching the East Coast, which means NYC may soon be in trouble.
Of course, Snake Plissken will be back to lead the charge in the prequel, as he’s been asked by the CIA to bring in a man named Thomas Newton, a “charismatic playboy heir to an agrochemical and biotech corporation.” He’s wanted because he’s in possession of an important, mysterious device called the Fat Boy. Furthermore, Snake will only have 11 hours to complete his mission and won’t have his iconic eye patch when the film begins, which means we may get to see what led to him needing one in the first place.
Admittedly, this all sounds rather exciting, but with a prequel to such a beloved and timeless movie, the producers are going to have to tread carefully. A lot of prequels and reboots of classic 80s movies, especially of the action genre, have gone on to disappoint fans, spitting out something lazy and clumsily put together just to cash in on the franchise’s name. The plans for this Escape From New York prequel do sound intriguing, to say the least, but until it gets further along in development, we’ll remain cautiously optimistic.
