John Carpenter’s 1981 cult classic, Escape from New York, was one of the many sci-fi action films that populated 1980s. Set in a futuristic (1997) New York City that has been turned into a massive prison, the film centers on protagonist and former solider turned criminal, Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell. After Air Force One is hijacked and the president (Donald Pleasence) is kidnapped, Snake fights his way through gangs, crime bosses, and even police as he moves on to save POTUS.

Ridiculous premise aside, the film was a critical and financial success. So much so that there was a sequel 15 years later, Escape From L.A.; which saw Carpenter and Russell teaming up again. Talks of a reboot of the first film have been circulating since about 2007 when it was rumored that Gerard Butler was in talks for the role of Snake. Since then, there have been than a fair share of Hollywood elites attached to the project including Joel Silver, Len Wiseman, and Brett Ratner along with big name actors like Jeremy Renner and Jason Statham.


After years of speculation and rumors, The Wrap reportedly has some solid details about what fans can expect with the Escape From New York reboot. BBC’s Luther creator Neal Cross is tapped to pen the script for Twentieth Century Fox. There will be some major deviations from the original, including the role of Robert Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) being gender-swapped for a female character, now named Roberta Hauk. Another surprise is that fans can finally have a real name for Snake: Colonel Robert Plissken.

escape from new york Escape From New York Reboot Details Reportedly Revealed
Other details revealed by The Wrap promise a new big bad that isn’t the Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes), and will instead be a charismatic biotech heir named Thomas Newton who possesses an interesting fail-safe device known as “fat boy.” Manhattan is no longer a rundown city/prison and is now an oasis overseen by an AI known as April that has a staff of “Seers” who monitor happenings in the city. The time frame is cut in half with the new Snake being given only 11 hours to complete his mission, presumably because there’s a huge superstorm headed right for them.

With the rest of the world very much unstable and in chaos, the reboot presumes that one tenth of the world’s population is displaced. While there are no other details on the rest of the world, fans will actually get to see Snake before he was captured — perhaps an explanation of the Leningrad Ruse that cost Snake his left eye?

There’s still no official casting news or a director, but Charlie Hunnam was the last name rumored to be attached.

Escape From New York, the reboot, has no release date yet.