Zack Snyder is gearing up to revive one of sci‑fi cinema’s most iconic dystopias. Reports claim he has officially signed on to write, direct, and produce a new take on Escape From New York.
Escape from New York Reboot
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Man of Steel filmmaker will lead a full “re-imagining” of John Carpenter’s 1981 classic.
It arrives 45 years after Kurt Russell first hit the screen as eye‑patch‑wearing anti‑hero Snake Plissken. Carpenter, who wrote and directed the original, is said to be returning in an executive producer role to help shepherd the project.
The original film was set in a grim, futuristic 1997 where Manhattan had been transformed into a maximum‑security prison. Russell’s Plissken was tasked with rescuing the US President after Air Force One crash‑landed inside the lawless zone.
Carpenter later revisited the character in 1996’s Escape From L.A., again starring Russell.
Previous Attempts
Hollywood has spent years trying to resurrect the franchise, but previous attempts repeatedly stalled.
Directors including Len Wiseman, Brett Ratner, and Breck Eisner were all attached at various points. Gerard Butler was even once floated as a potential Snake Plissken.
A later version led by Robert Rodriguez in 2017 also failed to move forward.
Behind the Scenes
Snyder’s reboot is being developed through The Picture Company and StudioCanal, alongside his own Stone Quarry banner.
However, the project is expected to wait in line behind Snyder’s next film, The Last Photograph, which was shot in Iceland, Colombia and Los Angeles and is currently in post‑production ahead of a planned 2027 release.
Discussing that film, Snyder said, “The idea of taking camera in hand and simply making a movie in an intimate way is very appealing to me. ‘The Last Photograph’ is a meditation of life and death, embodying some of the trials that I have experienced in my own life and the exploration of those ideas through image making.”