Horror legend John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi action film Escape from New York is getting a reboot, courtesy of the filmmaking team known as Radio Silence.
According to Deadline, an Escape from New York reboot film is currently in the works at 20th Century Studios, with Carpenter attached to serve as an executive producer. The new film will be directed by Radio Silence, which consists of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett and Chad Villella. Of course, this would not be the first time Radio Silence has put a modern spin on a horror icon's work, with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett having previously helmed 2022's Scream, the fifth and most recent film in the slasher franchise originally directed by the late Wes Craven.
In addition to directing, Radio Silence is producing the Escape from New York reboot alongside Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman of The Picture Company. The Picture Company has an overall deal with the French company Studiocanal, which itself will hold the distribution rights to the film in multiple territories. Steve Asbell and J.R. Young are overseeing the project for 20th Century Studios. Deadline reports that a search is underway for a writer, though the approach the reboot will take is currently unknown.
Escape from New York Premiered in 1981
Carpenter originally penned Escape from New York in the 1970s in response to the Watergate scandal. The success of his 1978 horror classic Halloween allowed him to start production on the feature, which he directed from a shooting script he co-wrote with Nick Castle, the latter of whom portrayed antagonist Michael Myers in Halloween. Escape from New York also featured late Halloween star Donald Pleasence in the role of President John Harker.
The 1981 film is set in the year 1997, taking place in a dystopian, crime-ridden United States where New York City's Manhattan Island has been converted into a maximum-security prison. The film centers on federal prisoner and former soldier Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell (who later starred in Carpenter's 1982 horror feature The Thing). After Air Force One is hijacked by anti-government insurgents, Plissken is given 24 hours to rescue President Harker, with the promise of a pardon upon his success.
Escape from New York was a critical and commercial success, bringing in $25.2 million at the domestic box office against a budget of $6 million. A sequel, Escape from L.A., was eventually released in 1996. Carpenter returned to direct the film from a script he co-wrote with Russell and late Halloween collaborator Debra Hill. Over the years, there have been a number of attempts to reboot the franchise, to no avail.
Radio Silence Resurrects Another Franchise
That said, the Radio Silence team has certainly been on the rise in recent years, helming such films as Ready or Not, V/H/S, Southbound and, most notably, Scream. A legacy sequel that serves as the fifth entry in the Scream franchise, 2022's Scream was directed by Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.
The directing duo of Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, as well as the writing duo of Vanderbilt and Busick, are set to return for the tentatively-titled Scream 6. Coincidentally taking the slasher franchise to a New York setting, the sixth Scream film is currently scheduled to release in theaters on March 10, 2023.
Source: Deadline