Leigh Whannell is having one hell of a week. Days after being chosen to write & direct The Invisible Man reboot, Whannell has also been tasked with writing a reboot to John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.
As of now, there is no deal in place for him to direct the film but it is a possibility he could take on that job as well. The original 1981 movie was set in the future (then 1997) where Manhattan had been turned into an island-sized maximum-security prison. When the president of the United States crashes into the decaying city, an outlaw is coerced into traveling inside to rescue him.
Neil Cross, the creator of the BBC crime series Luther, wrote the most recent iteration of the project that Robert Rodriguez was attached to direct but Whannell is kickstarting Escape with a new vision for the project that will retain elements of the original but bring new ideas to the table.
Whannell made his debut by writing and co-creating the Saw franchise with his friend James Wan. He then teamed up with Wan to launch a second horror franchise, Insidious. He made his directorial debut with Insidious: Chapter 3. Last year, he wrote and directed the dark sci-fi thriller Upgrade.
