Exclusive: Kurt Russell Returning For Escape From New York Sequel From Scream Directors
Kurt Russell will return as Snake Plissken in a reboot from the Radio Silence filmmaking collective.
This article is more than 2 years old
Kurt Russell is set to return to the role of Snake Plissken for a new Escape from New York sequel by Radio Silence, the filmmaking collective behind the recent Scream reboot. According to our trusted and proven sources, the John Carpenter series is being revived with its original star, but the trio of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella will now be helming the project. This will be Kurt Russell’s third time around as Snake Plissken and the first time since 1996’s Escape from L.A.
Escape from New York was released in 1981 and was directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote with his friend Nick Castle (who also played the Shape/Michael Myers in the first Halloween film). Its grim combination of violent science fiction, suspense, and New York as an apocalyptic wasteland became an unexpected box office hit and changed Kurt Russell from a former Disney child star to a gritty antihero type. It is unsurprising that it would eventually be revived, particularly in a time period in which every iconic Kurt Russell role might be up for grabs.
Additionally, this would not be the first John Carpenter project to get a reboot handled by someone else. Carpenter directed only the first Halloween movie (though he remained as an occasional writer and producer), which has now become one of horror’s longest-running franchises. It makes a lot of sense that studios would begin sniffing around his other work to try to find material to reboot, especially if it has the star power of Kurt Russell behind it.
In fact, there have been plans to make a new sequel with Kurt Russell titled Escape from Earth, which would see Snake Plissken fleeing the planet in a spacecraft after activating an anti-technology doomsday device in the last moments of Escape from L.A. There is no word yet whether Radio Silence will be utilizing any elements of that idea, but John Carpenter would probably be up for it as long as the legendarily grumpy video game aficionado got a producer credit and a profit share.
It was also rumored for years that John Carpenter’s 2001 science fiction film Ghosts of Mars starring Jason Statham, Ice Cube, and Natasha Henstridge was originally intended to be an Escape from Mars movie, with Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken role being turned into Ice Cube’s Desolation Williams. While Carpenter has never publicly commented on it, that rumor was finally shut down by a blunt tweet from his producer and spouse Sandy King in 2020.
Whatever storyline Radio Silence comes up with and where they decide Snake Plissken should be escaping from, it will be a pleasure to see Kurt Russell back in character. Although Kurt Russell has had many iconic roles in his long career in many different franchises from Fast and Furious to Stargate to Guardians of the Galaxy, Snake Plissken may be his most beloved and influential. Given Radio Silence’s success at reviving the Scream series, we have high hopes for this turning out well.
