Sneer's to you, Joel Silver for having the foresight to re-boot John Carpenter's wickedly fun Escape from New York and expand it, Peter Jackson-style, into a trilogy. Now you and Studio Canal just have to find a young-ish Snake Plissken who can carry three three films with the same sardonic charisma that made Kurt Russell such a joy to behold on the big screen. According to Deadline, the first of the three movies will be an origin story — perhaps one that shows how Snake got the eyepatch and how New York City became a maximum-security prison, or whatever plot twists Silver wants to throw our way since, according to the report, The Matrix producer is planning an "entirely new take" on the story.
Still, Plissken is going to have to ring some familiar bells with the crowd that will be seeing it because they loved the original. And with this in mind, here are some actors who I'd like see don ere are some of actors I'd love to see take on the role of Snake Plissken:
1) Taylor Kitsch: Take a look at his performance in Oliver Stone's Savages and the unfairly maligned John Carter and Kitsch could be the ideal choice to grow some stubble and an attitude for the crowd-pleasing thriller that Silver intends to make. Plus, if he pulls it off, the media will remember him for Escape not John Carter.
2) Jim Carrey: If you put Carrey's is-he-funny-or-just-crazy performance from The Incredible Burt Wonderstone in a blender with his scenes as Colonel Stars and Stripes in the Kick-Ass 2 trailer, you'd get Snake Plissken.
3) Michael Shannon: Plissken would be memorably malevolent and darkly comic in Shannon's hands. He'd also probably be the most substantial Snake of this bunch.
4) Isaiah Washington: Admittedly an unlikely choice — unless you've seen Blue Caprice. Washington is chilling as John Allen Muhammad, the orchestrator of the Beltway Sniper murders. The question is whether he has any comic timing. If he does, he'd be an interesting wild card.
5) Ryan Gosling: An even wilder card, but Gosling does the strong, silent, wisecracking type really well. And Only God Forgives looks brutal. If Silver really does want to defy expectations, then Gosling is his man. If he can land him.
Agree? Disagree? Have a better choice? Leave them in the comments section.
[Deadline]
Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter.
Follow Movieline on Twitter.