8. Escape From New York
Escape From New Yorks plot is so perfect in its simplicity, youd wonder why no one thought of it before John Carpenter made it in 1981. Almost twenty years into the future and New York City is now a prison, closed off from the US. The president gets held hostage there and only one man can go into NYC and save him. That man is Snake Plissken, played perfectly by Kurt Russell. Hes got 24 hours to do it. Along the way he ends up becoming one of the most iconic cinematic antiheroes of all time. Heres a perfect example of the warped logic coming from Hollywood. For decades Kurt Russell and John Carpenter have wanted to bring Snake back with the epically titled Escape From Earth. It would be the third installment of the Escape franchise, following 1996s Escape From LA (ironically, a virtual remake of the original). Apparently theres no potential in another Escape film, which is why a possible Carpenter/Russell reunion is not in the cards. Instead, lack of potential translates to ripe for remaking. Thankfully, director Len Wiseman bowed out of ruining Escape From New York with Gerard Butler taking over for Kurt Russell. Instead Wiseman went on to remake Total Recall and ruin another classic altogether. For Escape fans a bullet was dodged. That is until producer Joel Silver stepped in. Now it looks like were in store for a prequel/reboot, delving into the origins of Snake Plissken. Because clearly showing a characters legendary backstory is far more effective than just letting the audience have an imagination. It worked so well for Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy.