Neil Cross is well-known for his contributions to the small screen and also for creating Idris Elba’s “Luther,” penning “Doctor Who” episodes. Cross also wrote the screenplay for Andy Muschietti’s “Mama” and is ready to pen the script for “Escape From New York.”
In a new interview at Deadline, Cross had updated the status on the script and offered a very important seal of approval:
“It was quite a challenging script; it’s a challenging thing to reinvent,” Cross told the outlet. “One of the terrifying sentences I’ve ever heard in my life is ‘we’ve given the script to John Carpenter.’ I crawled around for three days thinking ‘oh my god.’”
He did not need to worry, and he added, “We got John Carpenter’s seal of approval. He approved it, and that’s all I need. You never quite know [if it’s done] but I might need to do some rewrites and do some nip and tuck, but in the first approximation, my job is done.”
Rodriguez had come on board to direct this remake, which Fox may spawn a brand-new franchise. It might be a very timely one as Nick Castle had written the script in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
The political upheaval that had spawned it — a story in which Manhattan turned into a security prison and housed the worst offenders, many who are pleased when the U.S. president lands on the island after a failed attempt on Air Force One — is alive and is enough to inspire a story with the real-world roots.
Carpenter and Rodriguez have collaborated in the past, as Rodriguez’s El Rey Network had announced “The People’s Network Showcase,” and it features short films from emerging filmmakers.
