Kurt Russell Doubts The Escape From New York Reboot Will Ever Happen

Let’s talk about John Carpenter’s legendary Escape from New York for a minute. If you want a dystopian movie that actually felt like it landed some predictions from the '80s—bleak urban future, crime-ridden chaos, the President ducking into a war zone—this is your movie. The setup: Manhattan gets walled off and turned into a prison, the President crashes inside, and the only guy who can get him out is Snake Plissken—the most badass eyepatched ex-Special Forces guy you’ll ever see, played by Kurt Russell before he turned into everyone’s favorite cool movie dad.

With that kind of world-building, you’d think Hollywood would have milked this premise for all it was worth. But, well, that’s not exactly how it played out.

Never-Ending Reboot Rumors

After the original, Carpenter and Russell did try to recapture the magic with Escape from L.A. in 1996. Critics and audiences, though? Not so interested. (It’s a weird, messy time capsule, though—worth a rewatch if you want to see Russell surf a CGI tsunami.)

Since then, a bunch of filmmakers (Robert Rodriguez, Leigh Whannell, and the Ready or Not team, for example) have all put their names forward to reboot Escape from New York. But every single attempt fizzled—announced with fanfare and then, poof, nothing really came of it. So when Studiocanal recently announced they were dusting off the franchise again for a reboot, it was hard to get too excited. Especially because they didn’t actually say who’s running the show this time. Which is usually a sign things are… not super locked in.

What Does Kurt Russell Think?

Kurt Russell himself was out doing the rounds recently (he was promoting a The Thing charity screening in Portland, with funds going to Goldie Hawn’s MindUp Program). Naturally, someone asked what he thinks about yet another Escape from New York reboot attempt.

'They've been talking about this ever since John and I did that movie, and Snake’s a great character. Honestly, remakes aren’t that exciting to me. I got to go back and do it again with Escape from L.A. with John, which was fun all those years later, but really, we did that because we were running out of time for me to still pull off that character. You can watch both movies back to back and Snake’s still Snake. But what I’ve learned is, everyone likes to talk sequels or remakes, and when it comes down to it, pulling it off is way tougher than people think. So yeah, I’ve heard this one before. If they actually get it made, good luck to them.'

Russell’s not exactly shooting the idea down, but I wouldn’t be holding my breath if I were you.

Why Is This Franchise So Hard to Reboot?

• The original film has a distinct 1981 flavor—grim, pulpy, and weirdly stylish. That’s hard to recapture without just making it a nostalgia trip or a parody.
• Even the creators themselves (Carpenter and Russell) couldn’t quite pull off sequel magic back in the 90s.
• Hollywood loves the idea of this character and story, but every time someone tries to modernize it, it seems to fall apart before cameras roll.
• For fans, Snake Plissken is Kurt Russell. No one's really leaping to recast that role. People have even floated the idea of Russell’s son, Wyatt Russell, donning the eyepatch—which Wyatt is not interested in doing, for the record.

Russell’s Track Record With Remakes

A lot of Kurt Russell’s movies get reboot chatter, but very few actually happen. One notable exception: The Thing. Even then, in 2011, what we got was a sort-of-prequel, sort-of-remake that mostly just played the same notes as the original. Another? The remake of Overboard in 2018, but that time Russell sat it out and Anna Faris led the way, with Goldie Hawn’s blessing but not her involvement.

Bottom line? Every couple years, rumor-mill churns up another Escape from New York reboot, and the internet gets a little excited. But until someone actually shows they can pull off Snake Plissken for a new generation (and, let’s face it, until we know who’s writing and directing this thing), don’t bet on anything moving forward anytime soon.