Every Cancelled John Carpenter Film We NEVER Got To See

After the release of Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., Carpenter hoped to close out the franchise with Escape from Earth. Escape from L.A. concluded with Snake Plissken activating a superweapon that sent humanity back to the Stone Age, destroying all technology across the globe.

However, the proposed sequel would open with humanity being forced to abandon the ruined planet, only to recreate the same corrupt governments in space. 

Carpenter described the concept as deliberately absurd and bleak, with Snake sabotaging a planned exodus from Earth after recognising that human nature was the problem, not location or technology. In this sense, the unrealised film would have pushed Carpenter’s long-standing pessimism about conformity and unchecked power to the brink, since Snake believed mankind isn't worth saving.

The project never progressed beyond the idea stage, largely due to the commercial and critical failure of Escape from L.A.

In 2022, Carpenter talked about revisiting the threequel, with Kurt's son, Wyatt Russell, taking over as the eyepatch-sporting anti-hero. But there hasn't been a whisper of Escape from Earth since then, so it may just be a pipe dream.