For some time now the idea of an “Escape From New York” remake has been kicking around.  However as of late the project has been plagued with many problems begging the question will the film ever see the light of day?  And perhaps more importantly, should it ever see the light of day?

About the same time the rumors for the movie began circulating it was revealed that Gerald Butler (of 300 fame) was the lead candidate to play the role of Snake Plissken.  That revelation upset many fans.  In fact Kurt Russell himself expressed concern over the decision when he commented:

“I will say that when I was told who was going to play Snake Plissken, my initial reaction was ‘Oh, man!’ [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American.”

Now I feel that Kurt’s words should be taken to heart because no other person on this planet better understands the character of Snake Plissken.  Russell worked hard with John Carpenter to develop the unique figure that is Snake Plissken.  Kurt’s reservations about Butler are now moot as Butler recently dropped out of the project citing “creative differences”.  But whatever actor takes on the role of Snake they must be prepared to portray him as the very deep, very layered character that he is.

When you get right down to it Snake is a very complex character and as a result can easily be screwed up.  If all the right conditions aren’t met then the character will come off well below his full potential.

Now I am different from many hardcore fans in that I am open to the idea of remake.  I personally always love to see it when a great idea is looked at again from another point of view.  To all those fans that feel a poor performance of the remake would in any way downgrade the franchise as a whole, I must respectfully disagree.  Even if the remake is a complete piece of crap it can never take away from the brilliance of the original.

While open to a remake I feel the time to do it is not now.  Instead we should see another installment in the series, a straight continuation of the first two.  The idea for a third Escape From movie has been around since after “Escape From LA” was made.  Kurt Russell, John Carpenter, and Debra Hill all worked on the basic concept for what the movie would be about.  There are several reasons why the movie never made it to the big screen.  However if there were ever a time to make a third Escape From film the time would be now.

Over the last few months we have seen many classic 80s icons return for new installments: Live Free and Die Hard, Rocky Balboa and Rambo; they are all movies which feature actors reprising famous title characters from decades of old.  The films bring about success as they ride a massive wave of nostalgia while fans flock to see their heroes once again.  I know that like Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell is willing to reprise a role that made him famous, a role that he holds dear to his heart.  I am willing to also bet that John Carpenter would be equally eager to take another stab at the franchise.

A third movie based on the original series would accomplish a lot of things at once.  It would provide the opportunity to give Russell’s Plissken character some closure, give the original series as a whole a sense of closure.  It would give fans what they have been itching for while also hyping up the franchise thus making it more profitable when a remake does come about.

All in all it seems real simple to me.  Before some new actor gets the chance to escape from New York, Russell should reprise the epic anti-hero just one more time.