New info continues to hit the Net about the widely anticipated/loathed remake of Escape from New York. First up is a comment from John Carpenter himself, who claims the project isn’t, technically speaking, a remake. “I don’t know that it’s a remake,” says the legendary director. “I think it’s a lot about Snake before he gets to New York.” Considering the parallels between Plissken and Eastwood, particularly The Man with No Name from the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, that’s probably a bad idea. I don’t want to know why everyone thinks Snake is supposed to be dead. Even more disturbing, the producer for the project is Neal H. Moritz, the man behind films like xXx and Cruel Intentions 2 (and let’s not forget the straight-to-video Cruel Intentions 3). A look at Moritz’s filmography on IMDb is not at all reassuring.

Those who expect this film to suck ass can also count on Kurt Russell’s vote. Asked by Entertainment Weekly if he’d be doing a cameo in the film, Russell snapped back in his best Plissken style: “F*ck that! I am Snake Plissken! It’s like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond.” He has a great deal more to say about remakes, Snake Plissken and how the notion of casting a Scotsman as Snake is a really bad idea, Sean Connery notwithstanding. (Fans of Kurt can see him in full-throttle badass mode in about two weeks, when Grindhouse hits the screens.)

We’ll let John Carpenter have the last word on Plissken, the remake, and his role in the whole project: “My other main involvement in this project is to extend my hand and have a check placed in it.�