Escape From New York reboot synopsis sounds very different to the original

The old remake dilemma; play too close to the original and fans will blast it for being too similar, but change too much and fans complain it’s too different.

Looks like the long in-development ‘Escape From New York’ remake will fall in the latter category.

The Wrap have published a synopsis of the new take on John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi action thriller, which starred Kurt Russell as grizzled anti-hero Snake Plissken, sent into a post-apocalyptic New York City which has been repurposed as a maximum security prison, with 20 hours to find and rescue the President.

This, it seems, isn’t quite the plan for 20th Century Fox’s new take on the property, which has been written by ‘Luther’ creator Neil Cross, and has Carpenter on board as executive producer.

Potential spoilers for the ‘Escape From New York’ reboot ahead.

First off, as may be surprising for a film with ‘New York’ in the title, the film does not begin in the city, as it will open on a scene of Snake Plissken – now given the full name of Colonel Robert ‘Snake’ Plissken – being caught in the act of a hug robbery which loses his military rank and sends him down for life.

However, in rather surprising news, New York is not a prison in this version of events, or at least not quite the same sort of prison.

Rather than the urban wasteland dominated by gangs in the 1981 film, the reboot will apparently feature a utopian cityscape described as “breathtakingly lovely. Manhattan is the island we know, but with more towering glass structures and a high, undulating glass wall.”

However, it may be more of a ‘1984’-esque surveillance state, with drones and an artificial intelligence system in the form of a woman named April monitoring all activity.

Snake is sent into the city not to find the President, but corrupt billionaire Thomas Newton, said to be the villain of the piece.

Additionally, the gender of a key character has changed. Bob Hauk, the New York security chief played by Lee Van Cleef in the original, is now CIA Deputy Executive Director Roberta Hauk.

Where Kurt Russell’s Snake had almost a full day to complete his mission, the new Snake has only 11 hours – and to add pressure, a mighty hurricane is on its way to the city.

This all points to something quite far removed from the original ‘Escape From New York’ – but given that the reboot doesn’t even have a confirmed release date, director or cast at present, it’s feasible things may change yet further before it finally reaches the screen.

Other John Carpenter remakes in the works include a new take on ‘Halloween,’ which Carpenter is creatively involved in, and a Dwayne Johnson’s planned remake of ‘Big Trouble in Little China,’ which Carpenter recently said he knows nothing about.

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