Someone, somewhere, thought it was a good idea to dust off John Carpenter’s Escape from New York for a prequel. Forget the fact that the sequel to that movie, Escape from L.A., was nothing to write home about. However, Joel Silver apparently believes he has found a reason to resurrect Snake Plissken. He wants to tell his origin story!

Breathe easy.

What made Escape from New York so great was that a bad-a$$ prisoner named Snake Plissken was air dropped into the prison community of Manhattan, after the island was cut off from the rest of the United States. The reason he was sent in was because the President of the United States was captured and was being held there, and he went in to save him with the “promise” of his freedom if he succeeded. See, Snake was a former Special Forces black ops soldier who turned to crime.

Silver probably sees value in the origin of Plissken as a former war hero (he won two Purple Hearts for bravery during World War III), and his turn to crime after the U.S. turned their back on him in the “Leningrad Ruse,” where he lost his eye. His parents were also burned to death in their home by the U.S. Police Force. I am guessing this movie is supposed to show how he turned on his country, after his country turned on him.

The problem here is that Snake Plissken was best as a mysterious bad-a$$ with a mysterious past. Won’t revealing that past and making him more sympathetic kill what made his character so cool? And who the hell can replace Kurt Russell in this role? Anyone else will be a lesser man.

Source: Deadline