Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/jason-statham-tom-hardy-battle-brits-article-1.1298116
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According to the Daily News both Tom Hardy and Jason Statham are in contention to play the one-eyed badass Snake Plissken made famous by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s 1981 film Escape from New York.
“Jason is the type of actor who has the physical attributes and screen presence to reprise Snake,” said a Hollywood insider close to the film’s producers. “He has a proven track record as a leading man and would do a great job.”
But, said insider adds, “Tom was immense in The Dark Knight Rises and deserves to get a break in a top role. This could put him firmly [on] the A list.”
Honestly, of the two we’re partial to Hardy. What say you guys?
Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures has joined forces with Studio Canal to build a new franchise with a retelling of Escape From New York.
In the Carpenter film, Russell starred as Snake Plissken, a tough convict dropped into a futuristic New York that had been turned into a post-apocalyptic maximum security prison. He was charged with rescuing the President (Donald Pleasence), who was being held hostage by the prison kingpin (Isaac Hayes) after his plane crashed within the city walls. Snake’s offered a pardon if he’s successful but fitted with a lethal device that will kill him if he tries to run or misses the deadline.
Silver is planning an entirely new take on the material. The goal is to turn it into a trilogy, starting with an origin story in a fashion similar to the way Rise of the Planet of the Apes restarted that franchise.
Keep your one eye peeled for more.