Leigh Whannell Will Write (And Maybe Direct) The ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK Remake

Here's an interesting bit of news to end the week on: according to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog newsletter, Upgrade director Leigh Whannell has been hired to write a new screenplay for the long-gestating Escape From New York remake. As of this writing, he's not signed on to direct, but that's a possibility.

Hollywood's been trying to get an Escape From New York remake off the ground for some time now. Various scripts have circulated for the project (none of them very good), and at one point Gerard Butler was onboard to slide into Snake Plissken's iconic eyepatch. There's no indication that Butler's still involved in this version, but we suppose we'll just have to wait and see what shakes out.

Is an Escape From New York remake a good idea? Well, your mileage may vary, but - as you've all heard me say on a number of occasions - a remake, even a bad one, won't erase the existence of the original. Plus, there's reason to be hopeful: Whannell is a dyed-in-the-wool genre geek. The man knows his shit. Upgrade ruled. We were excited to learn he'd be taking over the Invisible Man remake that's happening with Blumhouse/Universal, and we're cautiously optimistic about whatever he's got planned for Escape From New York. If anyone's got a shot at hitting the bullseye here, it's him. Fingers crossed!

Nothing further to report at this time, but obviously this is a project we're very curious to learn more about. Stay tuned for further updates as they roll in.