Escape from New York Remake Picks Zack Snyder as Writer and Director

The original Escape from New York tells the story of eyepatch-wearing action anti-hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) and premiered in 1981. Carpenter and Russell returned for a sequel, Escape from L.A., in 1996, but the franchise has mostly remained dormant since.

Despite remaining relatively quiet since the ’90s, the Escape from New York name – and its undeniable influence on Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series – has carried it through to 2026, where it remains a cult-classic ’80s property. It’s because of this that a remake has been in some form of development since the 2000s.

Nothing’s ever managed to come to fruition despite rumors of potential Snake Plissken castings popping up through the years. Russell even went on to question the purpose of a potential remake in 2015. However, the pieces for an Escape from New York remake started to fall into place when reports of Snake Plissken’s return started to crop up in 2022. The Hollywood Reporter then mentioned that StudioCanal was moving full speed ahead on the project in April of this year.

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