John Carpenter's 1981 post-apocalyptic thriller Escape from New York is the latest property to get a face-lift.  The original starred Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, an eye-patching wearing, bank-robbing convict tasked with venturing into the maximum security prison that has become Manhattan in order to rescue the President (Donald Pleasence) and gain his freedom.  A reboot was attempted a few years ago but New Line let the rights lapse.  Now, Joel Silver's Silver Pictures and Studio Canal are teaming up to bring a new look (and a new face) to the franchise with plans of an origin story and eventual trilogy.  Hit the jump for more.

According to Deadline, Silver is looking to do more than simply rehash the original picture.  The planned trilogy will start with an origin story similar in tone to how Rise of the Planet of the Apes set up the rest of the films.  A search is currently underway for a writer, but there are already a few frontrunners for the leading man.

Back when the project was under reboot consideration, with Neil Moritz producing and Breck Eisner (The Crazies) in line to direct, Gerard Butler, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hardy were all mentioned for the lead.  Since Silver and Studio Canal have previously partnered on Liam Neeson-starrers Unknown and Non-Stop, we can assume that Neeson might very well be under consideration to strap on Snake's eye-patch.  However, Neeson and Russell are roughly the same age, so it would make sense for a reboot, and especially a trilogy, to go with a younger leading man.  Hardy's got the edge on youth, but any of these guys would bring an interesting angle to Snake.  Who's your pick?  Let us know in the comments below!