Ratner decides he can’t replicate ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK either!

There’s a rumor going around over at AICN that Brett Ratner has left the New Line remake of Escape from New York, which hopefully means at the very least the project has been scrapped as a pre-strike movie or at best the project has been shelved altogether.

Ratner was never the right man for the job. It needed someone who was capable of bringing a totally organic atmosphere and someone who has a proven track record of methodical direction.

Their previous choice Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) was never the right man for this either.

Personally, I can think of only a handful of people who could make this project anything near but worthy.

Those names are:

Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Christopher Nolan and of course… John Carpenter.

If it’s not one of those names then it’s not going to work. Give up the ghost on this one guys, I’m sure you can find a new action vehicle for Gerard Butler to star in that doesn’t have the title Escape from New York.

4 Comments »

Thank god I hope this is true. Out of the list of directors who you think could make this flick work I would say it’s Robert Rodriguez, that man could do great things if he remade this film….but as for John Carpenter himself, did you see escape from LA?…I don’t think even he is capable of making a great flick, he lost his touch years ago.

Comment by Tino | October 29, 2007

Great to hear that Ratner’s out, but I think you’re wrong about the list of directors. I’m not sure that a Tarantino version would work, and Carpenter himself made the piss-poor near-remake of a sequel.

I reckon this would be a great vehicle for a dedicated new director, as per Zack Snyder with the Dawn Of The Dead remake. Someone fresh with some real, original ideas could make this work, else it’s best left untouched.

Comment by PaulT | October 29, 2007

Oh, thank fuck for that!

Comment by The Glove | October 29, 2007

Carpenter really blew it with Escape from LA. I like Escape from New York, but it really is a low budget picture shot on a small scale. The story is worth revisiting with a decent budget and a coat of gloss. Say what you want about Wiseman and Ratner, they are far from perfect, but they are capable of delivering a big budget action film. At least with these “name” directors the audience is assured a decent budget and some stars. Escape From New York could easily become no effort trash like “The Fog” remake. I’m not against another sequel with Kurt Russell but it’ll never happen with a decent budget because Russell can’t open an action movie. Which is a shame becacause I’m a huge fan.

Comment by MDOC | October 29, 2007

The OWF Team