The big question surrounding the upcoming “Escape From New York” reboot (beyond the obvious question of “why?”) is who would step into Kurt Russell’s shoes as the iconic Snake Plissken.
And while we don’t have a definitive answer just yet, director Brett Eisner hints that he his eye on a leading man–“Justified” star Timothy Olyphant.
“Creatively, he would be great for it. We have not yet discussed internally within the studio who will play Snake Plissken. There are many factors that go into those discussions,” Eisner tells Movie Web. “First and foremost, obviously, is the creative one. We can’t make the movie unless we get the perfect Snake Plissken, and that’s a tall order. There are very few guys that could do it. He would definitely be one of the guys who could. There is no question about that.”
Sounds like Olyphant has the seal of approval from Eisner. And other comments from the director make it sound like a re-teaming of the two (they worked together on Eisner’s “The Crazies”) could be on the horizon.
“I love working with Timothy Olyphant, and I will be working with him again,” Eisner says. “He is an amazing actor. A talented guy. And he’s incredibly funny. He needs to do a great comedy, because he is a funny guy. But I will work with him again. I can promise you that.”
So, what do you think? Could Olyphant wear the iconic eye-patch?
That is a tall order to fill, but I’m not immediately repulsed and opposed to the pairing of Olyphant to the iconic role. His work on Justified is amazing! He has an imposing stillness and understated quality that, I think, is essential for anyone attempting to play the character of Snake Plissken. We could do a lot worse.
Olyphant could do it. I think he’d need a few courses of steroids to get him to be physically imposing enough, though.
Wait – isn’t Snake Plissken dead?
I share the question of “why” on the reboot but think if they’re going to do it, Olyphant could pull it off.
His work on Deadwood was fantastic. He has the whole quietly menacing thing down cold.