For better or for worse, a remake of John Carpenter’s Escape from New York is currently in the works, but the new Snake Plissken might look a little familiar. Written by Leigh Whannell, whose next film as a director The Invisible Man hits theaters this month, the new Escape from New York will introduce a new actor to play the film’s iconic hero Snake Plissken.
Speaking with JoBlo, Whannell was asked about the planned remake and revealed he has the perfect actor in mind to take over the lead role originally played by Kurt Russell by following up with this response.
“[Casting Wyatt Russell] seems like the obvious thing to win the fans over.”
Whannell also divulged a few more details about the planned Escape from New York reboot from the same interview, the filmmaker points out that he knows just how beloved the original depiction of Snake Plissken is with fans of the film and plans to be very careful with how the character will be treated in this upcoming reimagining of the story.
“That is an iconic character and I think that Snake Plissken is a part of people’s childhood and their adolescence. It’s near and dear to them. So I would tread very carefully with that.”
Personally, I’m very open-minded when it comes to remakes – I loved last year’s Child’s Play remake just as much as the original – but I’m not completely sold on a new version of Escape from New York. Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken is so incredibly unique that it would seem no new version of the character would ever be able to compare. Still, perhaps Wyatt Russell is the next best thing, so if this reboot has to happen, hopefully his potential casting works out.
You can read more from Whannell’s interview at JoBlo, and if you’re unfamiliar with Wyatt Russell, you can meet see him speaking about his Lodge 49 role in the video.
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