Escape Clause

Over the weekend, various film websites were buzzing about a story that appeared on Bloody Disgusting, concerning the rumored cinematic return of anti-hero Snake Plissken.

The story, as originally reported, went something like this:

Director John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell have had meetings as early as last week over at Paramount and they are mulling over the idea of bringing to life a script that was written around eight years ago called Escape from Earth.

The rumor also stated that Russell is requiring Paramount to do the third Plissken film as part of negotiating a three picture deal with the actor.

After I read that blurb, I got all excited at the prospect of another Plissken adventure, on the big screen. The first film in the series, 1981's Escape From New York, is among my favorites from Carpenter's filmography---Not to mention, it's as Plissken, that Russell is at his best...I know, I know, the first sequel--Escape From LA (1996) was a disappointment--to say the least. That said, it's still Russell's greatest role.

My excitement about a third film, was short lived, after I read a post by Aint It Cool's Moriarty from last night on the subject, totally debunking the story:

...the rumor that ESCAPE FROM EARTH... the second sequel to ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.., it ain’t true. Not a word of it.

Oh, sure, John Carpenter mentioned ESCAPE FROM EARTH as a possibility several times when he was doing press for ESCAPE FROM LA, and I remember when [series producer] Debra Hill was actively working to resuscitate the Snake Plissken franchise through comic books. Fans are obviously still very fond of the character and the possibility of a sequel based on the volume of mail we got [some 3,885,574,672 e-mails-Wow!!] about it. Hell, even our very own Vern wrote me a sternly-worded letter in which he demanded that I get the truth sorted out immediately.

We were already working on it, though. We got the same e-mail Bloody Disgusting did that set this whole thing off. There were things in the e-mail that immediately struck me as false, so I reached out to John to ask him to either confirm or deny the possibility. The guy wrote about how Kurt Russell wanted Paramount to make this film before he’d sign a three-picture deal with them. The thing is, studios aren’t really in the habit of making “three-picture” deals with anyone anymore, especially not with a guy like Russell who, while undeniably cool, is hardly box-office magic. Also, Russell doesn’t pitch projects. He only meets on films that have a greenlight and that have a money offer on the table. Even if it is Carpenter, the film would have to be set up somewhere before Kurt would get involved.

But don’t take my word for it. Carpenter himself shot the entire rumor down today when we spoke. “ESCAPE FROM EARTH" is an idea we had several years ago, but it never really got any further than that,” he said. When I asked him if he’d met at Paramount, he just laughed. “Nope.”

In an e-mail, his wife and producer Sandy King also emphasized how untrue the story was.

”John has just spent a rousing week playing Tom Clancy's war video games and smoking in his favorite chair and eating fried chicken. Need I say more?”...

Sheesh! Whoever sent Bloody D that email as an anonymous scoop should be beat with a wet noodle and hung by his toes.