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Rodriguez In Talks To Remake ‘Escape From New York’

The Tracking Board is reporting that none other than Robert Rodriguez is at the top of Fox‘s wishlist for their remake of Escape From New York. According to the outlet, he is currently in early talks to helm the project, based upon the latest draft by screenwriter Neil Cross (“Luther“, Pacific Rim). The script will likely undergo another rewrite once Rodriguez comes on board.

Original director/franchise creator John Carpenter is on board to executive produce. Mind you he’s listed as a producer on most remakes of his original work, but unlike the re-imagings of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fog, this likely won’t be an “in name only” affair. Carpenter owns a controlling share of the series rights and has been rather protective of them of late, having been disappointed by the scripts generated for it when it was set up elsewhere.

Hollywood has been trying to remake this film since 2007, with New Line Cinema scooping up the rights back then and hanging onto them until around 2011. After that, StudioCanal tried to mount a new trilogy with uber-producer Joel Silver guiding things, but that too went nowhere. Fox won the rights in a bidding war in early 2015 and has been quietly developing it ever since. Word is that they envision it to be another potential on-going science fiction/action franchise for them, alongside the likes of Planet of the Apes, Alien, and Predator.

If he gets the gig, this will mark Rodriguez’s fourth collaboration with the studio. The Desperado director previously made Machete and Machete Kills for Fox, as well as produced 2010’s Predators. He is currently in production on Alita: Battle Angel for them, which counts James Cameron as a producer.

I’m honestly not surprised by this turn of events. Fox likes Rodriguez. Carpenter likes him. Plus, as of late, he’s been more interested in directing big budget studio fare again, after spending the majority of the last 15 years doing his own thing whenever possible. For better or worse, he is a worshiper at the altar of Carpenter. That might sound like an odd thing to say, especially considering that I am a Carpenter superfan, but his love of the man’s work has its potential pitfalls. His half of Grindhouse, the feature Planet Terror, very much plays within the Carpenter cinematic wheelhouse (with a heavy dose of Cameron). While I thought that film worked, there’s potential here for this to come off like a pale imitation if he doesn’t watch himself.

At the end of the day, it’s just another John Carpenter remake. That’s not a statement of dismissal or defeat, just a plain fact. We’ve had loads of them so far, most of which have not been good. The originals still exist, however, and that’s all that really matters. If this reboot turns out well? Awesome. If not, it will ultimately sit on the shelf forgotten alongside the remake of The Fog.

3 Comments
  • Slate_Fistcrunch

    NO

    • Daniel Baldwin

      Could be worse. Both Brett Ratner and Len Wiseman have been previously attached to direct older attempts at a remake.

      • Slate_Fistcrunch

        So it’s getting incrementally less bad.

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