Could Timothy Olyphant be Escaping New York?

Casting News, News, Rumors

It’s been quite a few months since we told you about the Escape from New York remake that was in development. Before New Line Cinema could move forward with a remake these three things could not be changed about the movie’s hero Snake Plissken:

1) The character must be called “Snake.”
2) He must wear an eye patch.
3) He must always be a bad-ass.

It was unknown then who would play the role of Snake, but there’s some speculation that New Line could be looking for a guy who feels justified by his actions. According to Total Film, Timothy Olyphant could be the new lead in Breck Eisner’s remake of Escape from New York. Olyphant would take on the part of Snake Plissken, a role made famous by Kurt Russell almost 30 years ago in the John Carpenter original.

While the 1981 film sees Plissken, a one-eyed soldier, make attempts at escaping a prison based in a post-apocalyptic New York City, the remake would shy away somewhat from that grim fururistic setting and base the film in a penal colony. In an interview with Comingsoon, Eisner spoke about these changes, and why they had to happen, but also why fans shouldn’t be worried.

    “The interesting thing about ‘Escape from New York‘ is that it was a comment on the urban decay and the suburban flight coming out of the ’70s and early ’80s. Conceptually, it’s an idea that’s not true today because of the world we live in. So, how the prison is created is going to be different than in Carpenter’s version. The anxiety of the world and anxiety of our existence post-9/11 is there, especially the anxiety in Manhattan post-9/11. Plot-wise, they’re different, emotionally they’re very similar. That’s why it’ll be interesting to tackle this movie, to have a slightly different take but with the same results which is Manhattan is turned into a walled prison.”

Olyphant and Eisner both worked together on this year’s The Crazies remake, which turned out to be a box-office hit. Could the two make another successful remake out of Escape? With Eisner keen on working with Olyphant again it’s entirely possible.

The Buzz: Timothy Olyphant has quickly become a must see actor for me, which basically means, if he’s in a movie, I’m there. Having recently seen him in multiple films and television shows, I’m one of his major supporters (at least through the written word) and would love to see him in more recognizable roles.

Picturing Olyphant as Plissken is actually quite easy, and he has the ability to balance both subtle humour and being a complete bad-ass extremely well. If they are changing his origins somewhat, and the setting as well, there’s no reason why this can’t be made into a successful franchise. With Olyphant’s star on the rise, now would be the time to nab him up and see where he takes you.

What do you guys think, do you agree that Olyphant can pull off the role, or do you think they should keep searching?

Brendan Campbell was here when Inside Pulse Movies began, and he’ll be here when it finishes - in 2012, when a cataclysmic event wipes out the servers, as well as everyone else on the planet other than John Cusack and those close to him. Brendan’s the #1 supporter of Keanu Reeves, a huge fan of popcorn flicks and a firm believer that sheer entertainment can take a film a long way. He currently resides in Canada, where, for reasons stated above, he’s attempting to get closer to John Cusack.