Zack Snyder’s Escape from New York remake won’t be contemporary, as some expected. Instead, the film will be set in 1997, the same year as John Carpenter’s classic, and told from the perspective of 1981, the year that film was released.
“The movie is going to be set in ’97,” Snyder told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “It’s sort of from the perspective of 1981.”
He continued, “The war between the United States police force and the criminal elements takes place, I think, July 9th, 1981, which is the release date of the original movie. And then the rest is pretty much Escape from New York.”
Snyder was just a day off; the release date was July 10th 1981.
Kurt Russell starred as Snake Plissken in Carpenter’s classic Escape from New York. The crucial turning point of the story was in 1988 when the crime rate exploded to 400%, so Snyder is adjusting things a little.
Snyder says the film still holds up and works as a satire for today.
“It’s a way that satire can get to us,” Snyder said. “We can make comments about government and all the overreach, or whatever you want to call it — the People’s Liberation Front of America. All that stuff is in the headlines. So I think it’s quite current in some ways.”
When asked by host Josh Horowitz if he’d found his Snake Plissken, Snyder teased, “I may,” and said the iconic eyepatch look will remain.
Last month, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who starred in Snyder’s Watchmen and appeared in Batman v Superman, revealed that he’d been texting the director for a role. Snyder confirmed it, but declined to say if he was signed.
Something tells me Morgan will be part of Escape from New York, but probably not as Plissken. I think he’ll shoot for someone younger. Snyder wouldn’t confirm if it was someone he’d worked with before. Just don’t let it be Fra Fee! Stuart Martin, on the other hand, might be able to do it.
