Is Zack Snyder a bad enough dude to save the president? Probably not, but he is the latest director attached to an Escape From New York remake. Per The Hollywood Reporter, StudioCanal, which announced development on the film in April, has named Zack Snyder to write and direct a “reimagining” of John Carpenter’s 1981 classic.
Snyder joins an elite list of mercenary filmmakers who had previously been tasked with flying a little glider into Manhattan in search of the world leader. In the early 2010s, New Line attempted to mount a remake helmed by Underworld auteur Len Wiseman before downgrading to Melania director Brett Ratner, with potential Plisskens played by Gerard Butler, Jeremy Renner, and Tom Hardy. After New Line gave up its dream of producing an inferior Escape From New York, 20th Century Fox snatched up the rights and hired Robert Rodriguez. When that flamed out, Radio Silence, the guys behind the Scream reboot, said “Call me ‘Snake'” to a legacy sequel to New York.
This is not Snyder’s first remake rodeo. His breakout hit was the full-speed, James Gunn-penned remake of Dawn Of The Dead. Since completing his two-part sci-fi epic for Netflix, Rebel Moon, Snyder has attached himself to several projects that have yet to come to fruition. The most interesting, The Last Photograph, is a drama about a war photographer in search of a girl in South America. The others, including this Escape From New York remake, are more in the typical Zack Zone. He’s got his MMA movie, The Brawler, that he’s making with the help of UFC president Dana White and the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh. Though after Smashing Machine and Christy failed to connect, we don’t expect to see combat sports in theaters any time soon. Finally, lest we fear that Snyder and Netflix fell out after Rebel Moon, he’s also making a movie about the LAPD for the streamer.
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