“You go in, find the remake, bring him out in 24 hours, and you’re a free man.” I can only imagine that this is how the studio pitched The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell a possible remake of cult classic Escape From New York. While previously announced as far back as 2017, with Robert Rodriguez attached to direct and Whannell just writing, nothing’s really come of it for a while. Now, however, Mr. Whannell has offered an update of sorts.
While talking to ComicBook.com about the aforementioned Invisible Man, the horror director was asked about Snake Plissken’s status and whether or not the remake would be a total reinvention or something more conventional. The director, in a more vulnerable admission than most would offer, had this to say:
“It’s funny, I’ve been so busy working on this film [The Invisible Man] where I haven’t had time to circle back around on that project. Sometimes these press releases go out before you’re ready, you’re like, ‘Don’t tell the world!’ I don’t actually know, I really don’t. 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.”
I applaud the dude’s honesty and I love his comment about the press release perhaps being a bit premature, put out there simply to generate hype. I’m glad he’s taking his time and not allowing yet another 80s remake to be fast-tracked and just tossed out there, ya know? Whannell obviously has a lot of respect for John Carpenter’s classic action flick and I bet he could do a great job, given time and his track record of high-quality work. So, we’ll have to see what he comes up with.
I mean, I personally would rather not see any more of Carpenter’s work remade. Well…okay. Maybe Starman would work well with some updated undercurrents of sociopolitical intrigue, or, ya know, something like that. Actually, it’d be hilarious if Whannell followed up The Invisible Man with a remake of Memoirs of an Invisible Man, one of Carpenter’s worsts, along with the rest of his 90s output. Ah, well. Everything gets remade eventually I guess, even Escape From New York. Now, where’s that president?