Now that John McClane, Rocky Balboa and John Rambo have made their return to the big screen -- with Indiana Jones on his way -- the question seems pretty obvious: Who will be the next 1980s action hero to come out of retirement and enjoy one last explosion of mindless mayhem and crazy carnage? I have a few suggestions...

Marion "Cobra" Cobretti (Cobra, 1986) -- After the original First Blood, Stallone went a little insane and not only directed the hilariously bad Staying Alive ... he also starred opposite Dolly Parton in Rhinestone. So obviously it was time for A) Rambo 2, B) Rocky 4, and a powerfully mindless cop flick called Cobra. It grossed only about $50 milion, but that's pretty solid in 1986 money. Oh, and Stallone's subsequent movie? The arm-wrestling one. Other options for Sly: Gabe "Cliffhanger" Walker (which is apparently already in development), Frank "Lock Up" Leone, Lincoln "Over the Top" Hawk ... and (of course) Detective Ray Tango.

"Dirty" Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry, 1971; Magnum Force, 1973; The Enforcer, 1976; Sudden Impact, 1983; The Dead Pool, 1986) -- Pretty damn unlikely, but I'd love to see Dirty Harry polish off the pistol just one last time. Hell, send him after the terrorists! (Another, more realistic wish: Clint Eastwood will deliver at least one more western in the vein of The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, or Unforgiven.)

ComingSoon got an early look at the first teaser poster and some of the artwork for the new techno-thriller, Game. Written and directed by Crank creators, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the film stars Gerard Butler as the consummate player of a virtual game with some pretty heavy real-life consequences. The story is "set in a dystopian future of implanted nano-devices, where the ultimate online simulation environment is humans remote-controlling other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming. The lead character, played by Butler, is a worldwide sensation, and the top-ranked warrior in a game called "Slayers." With his every move tracked by millions, he battles to regain his identity and bring down the entire system". Joining Butler are Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and Dexter's Michael C. Hall as the game's evil creator.

Butler has been picking up parts right and left after the success of 300; everything from romantic weepies to crime drama -- and I know which one I'd be more inclined to shell out my hard-earned dollars for, how about you? Butler is going to have one less commitment to worry about this year since it turns out he will not be taking on the role of Snake Plissken in the update of Escape from New York. Christopher brought us the 'good' news recently citing 'creative differences' as the catalyst for Butler leaving the project. So that film is now officially without a director or a star. So I don't think it is just me, but I wouldn't count on seeing Escape any time soon considering the rate people are dropping from the project. As for Game, the film is currently in production and expected to be released in 2009.

UPDATE: It seems the artwork has been taken down; not sure why. Sorry about that folks.

Once again, I'm going to pretend like I made something happen. Two days ago, on this very Cinematical program, I declared that there can be only one Snake Plissken in movieland, and he shall be forever played by Kurt Russell. Well, perhaps Gerard Butler agrees with me, because he's now dropped out of the remake of Escape from New York, according to Variety. The trade says the decision was due to creative differences, which could very well mean that New Line wants to go with the Snake Plissken name, while Butler sided with me in saying that was a bad idea. Of course, I don't want to be responsible for Butler quitting a gig; after all, I implied that it was okay for the 300 star to do the remake, just that he needed another, less-iconic character name. Regardless, though, Butler's departure follows news that Brett Ratner is no longer or was never attached to direct the movie, which had followed news that Len Wiseman was also not involved. And suddenly the project is empty of talent. But for those three of you who are looking forward to it, the remake is not dead yet. New Line has hired Jonathan Mostow to script a rewrite and has apparently offered him the option to direct as well.

Mostow, who interestingly enough directed Russell in Breakdown, will be revising the current script penned by Ken Nolan. Back in July, Aint it Cool News posted a review of the earlier draft; revealing that it was relatively faithful to John Carpenter's original while also being modernized with timely relevance to the Middle East conflicts. The script also was said to feature flashbacks to Snake's military career in order to show background for his imprisonment. We'll have to wait and see if Mostow changes much of the details from that version, but I think we can trust the project in his hands. Sure, he's been known to play with history, substituting Americans for British in significant WWII plots, and he seemed to piss off a lot of fans with his direction of Terminator 3: Rise o the Machines (not me, though; I enjoyed it), but Mostow is a heck of a lot better than Wiseman and Ratner. So, should he direct? Is it like choosing the lesser of evils? Do you wish New Line would just scrap the whole thing altogether (they won't -- they paid too much for it)? And most importantly, who should play Snake, or "guy who isn't called Snake" as I suggested the character to be named, now that Butler is out?

Fire up the flame war, because I'm about to admit to another crazy opinion: John Carpenter's Escape from New York is boring. It's a great concept -- that of Manhattan being a maximum security prison in which a military prisoner must seek and rescue the President of the United States in order to receive a pardon. The movie is even relatively impressive considering its low budget, regardless of how dated it now looks. But it just doesn't have enough going on to garner as much praise as it receives. Maybe if I'd seen it 25 years ago I would have the same fondness that its fans have, but I saw it this year and was seriously disappointed; and yes, I was extremely bored. Because of this crazy opinion, I actually wouldn't mind seeing a well-done remake. Unfortunately, I don't believe I will get to see such a thing considering the directors so far linked to the job. First there was Len Wiseman (I still haven't seen Live Free or Die Hard, so I can't judge him completely). Then there was the much worse news that Brett Ratner was taking the helm. Fortunately, we can count him out too, as Aint it Cool News has relayed an email claiming Ratner himself denied his involvement.

I'll admit one other thing, that may save me from too many flames: Kurt Russell is the only Snake Plissken. No matter who New Line gets to direct the EFNY redo, the studio might as well save themselves some pain by changing the main character's name. Technically there's no reason to do this, but for those of us who associate Russell with Snake, it would be a wonderful, narratively insignificant change (I even have a suggestion for a "new" name: Ben Richards). Yeah, I know I just saw the movie for the first time within twelve months, but even without sitting through the thing, I spent the last 25 years with the image of Russell with the eyepatch in my head. That means he's a part of the pop-cultural consciousness. Giving us a new Snake, at least by name, is like trying to re-introduce Mickey Mouse as a rat. Or Ronald McDonald as a bearded lady. Or Willy Wonka as Michael Jackson. Anyway, that is my invitation for scrutiny for the day, and I'm sticking by it. The Escape from New York remake, hopefully starring Gerard Butler as "some other dude with an eye patch," is due in 2009.

You know how people try and make you feel better by saying things could always be worse? Well, if Ain't it Cool News is right, then things have officially gotten worse with regards to the remake of Escape From New York. According to AICN's Merrick (via one of their ultra hip scoopers), a rumor has been making the rounds that claims Brett Ratner in in talks (or in the running) to take over directing duties on the remake of John Carpenter's classic. Now, to be fair, AICN is not confirming the news to be true, but you could probably already hear the collective groans from fans of the original film at the thought of Ratner ruining a cult favorite. Len Wiseman was officially attached to the project back in August, but according to AICN's source, Wiseman is off the project for good.

Released in 1981, the original film starred Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken; a mercenary soldier turned convict who is forced into service to rescue the daughter of the president in the apocalyptic wasteland formerly known as New York. Ryan had reported back in May that Gerard Butler (300) would be taking over the lead -- much to the dismay of the original Snake Plissken . Changes seem to be the order of the day when it comes to the remake, since there had been talk that the script would be getting an update as well. Since the original film was a comment on Watergate and political corruption, it has been assumed that the new film would be working in some Iraq war commentary. Although if Ratner does take over, this will probably be some pretty ham-fisted discourse. But before anyone gets too upset; just remember that so far this is all just speculation. So keep your fingers crossed that this is all just someone's idea of a cruel joke.

UPDATE: IESB claims this rumor is 100% true, and that Brett Ratner has indeed replaced Len Wiseman as director of the Escape from New York remake.

Shoot 'Em Up opens this week, and Clive Owen is making Bugs Bunny look all sorts of tough and cool. He banters. He sexes up the ladies. He handles guns like a pro. Heck, he even tries to buy them with food stamps. All this badness and guns has thrown me into an antihero state of mind. But before I can go a-listing, we've got to decide what an antihero is.

Blending all of the vague definitions together, your antihero is basically the person who doesn't imbue the classic attributes of heroism. This could mean being inept and stupid, but for the means of this list, I'm going for the antiheroes whose methods, manners and intentions can be questioned. Some are good guys who do bad things, some are bad guys who do good things. Some just don't care as much as a good hero should. But they're all so uber cool that whether you've seen the films or not, you know who they are, and you might just be quoting them.

Note: Only one cop is included on this list, and it isn't John McClane -- he's much more of a bitter hero than a questionable antihero.

Harry Callahan -- Dirty Harry (1971)

I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

While I love most of the guys on this list, the one who has to be there above all others is Dirty Harry Callahan. He might be a cop trying to keep the streets safe, but instead of upholding the law, he enforces morality with his gun, boot, or whatever else he can find. In the first of the action series, Callahan is hunting down Scorpio, a serial killer loosely based on the Zodiac killer. He tortures suspects when he needs to, and does it all in a suit, tie and sweater. Most of all, he's "Dirty," but no one knows the specific reason why.

Len Wiseman did the nearly unthinkable this summer and made me like (not love, mind you, but certainly enjoy) a fourth Die Hard film. I was mighty concerned going in that the guy would dump all over one of the greatest movie series ever made, but instead Wiseman made a solid flick with some very cool action scenes (loved that tunnel "lights out" sequence in particular). Miraculously, the movie didn't make me cringe once. Live Free or Die Hard won't join "The Thrillogy" in my DVD collection, but it impressed me with all the mistakes it didn't make. I never saw Wiseman's Underworld films, but now there's a much greater chance I'll queue the suckers up. And Wiseman must be feeling pretty cocky these days, (being married to Kate Beckinsale probably helps) because he's following up LFODH with another project that could potentially tick off action fans.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Wiseman is in negotiations to direct the remake of Escape From New York. 300's abbed-up hero Gerard Butler is attached to star as Snake Plissken, a role memorably played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's original film and the dreary sequel Escape From LA. Ken Nolan (writer of Black Hawk Down) wrote the script for the remake, which "will combine an origin story for Plissken merged with the story of the 1981 movie." That story, for those of you who've never seen the Carpenter classic, envisions a futuristic (the original was set in 1997) New York City as one big maximum security prison. When the president's plane crashes, inmate Plissken is sent on a mission to rescue him. Carpenter will executive produce the new film. For some past Escape news, here's a script review, Kurt Russell's angry response to Butler's casting and the project in general, and his later, friendlier response to the film, What say you, Cinematical readers? Wiseman and Butler -- can they pull this thing off?

Back in March, Variety reported on a bidding war for the rights to remake John Carpenter's action classic Escape From New York. When the dust settled, New Line emerged victorious and the project was put together as a starring vehicle for 300's Gerard Butler. Now, Ain't It Cool News claims to have gotten a first look at the new script by Black Hawk Down writer Ken Nolan and provides their own review. Since this news depends on how much you trust the sources at AICN, you should probably take most of the review with a huge grain of salt. Also, if you are the type who likes to remain "spoiler-free" you should tread lightly, since they are pretty liberal with the reveals. The original film of course starred Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, an ex-soldier and fugitive who is roped into rescuing the U.S. President from New York, which has been turned into a brutal high-security prison. When news of the remake hit, let's just say that it did not receive a warm welcome from fans or the original Snake -- Russell has since mellowed on the whole thing, but is still far from enthusiastic.

According to AICN's review, the new script manages to keep most of the original film's story and characters while managing to come up with a few ideas of their own, such as flashbacks to Plissken's military career, and an updated political context. The original film was Carpenter's reaction to the Watergate scandal, so the new film is apparently placing Plissken's political dissent in direct connection with the crisis in the Middle East. There are some other changes supposedly on the way, but since the script is still in the draft stage, who knows how much could actually wind up in the finished product?

Is Gerard Butler an A-list star now? It certainly seems so, though I honestly don't feel like I could pick the guy out of a line-up even after sitting through 300. Variety is reporting that Butler has snagged the lead in the Fox Walden fantasy adventure Nim's Island, which we previously told you will feature Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin. The story involves a little girl who lives on a tropical island with her father, but ends up living there alone, fending for herself. The husband-wife directing team of Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett will be helming the project, from their own screenplay. It's set to begin filming in Australia.

It's also been announced that after Nim, Butler will be jumping into the world of Al Capone when he stars alongside Nic Cage in Capone Rising, the Untouchables prequel, which will be distributed by Paramount. It's not exactly clear at this point who Butler will be playing, but since he's British I assume it might be the Sean Connery role. Butler is also going to be leading a high-profile romantic dramedy, P.S. I Love You, opposite Hilary Swank. That one is getting a big Christmas release, and if that's not enough for you, he's also set to star in the thriller Game, which begins shooting in January. There's also been talk that if they actually go forward with a remake of John Carpenter's Escape from New York, Butler is the go-to guy for that. So, it looks like Hollywood has decided that he's our new star. Let's start getting used to him.

We caught up with Kurt Russell at the Grindhouse press junket over the weekend, and we were able to get the skinny from him on the developing hubbub over the possibility of Gerard Butler playing Snake Plissken in the remake of Escape from New York. The full junket report is coming very soon, but here's a sample:

Question: They've announced that they want to remake The Thing, and your The Thing with John Carpenter is one of the great remakes. What do you think about that, and would you like someone else to go in and play Snake Plissken? "You know, it's been a long time and I've seen a lot of it. They remade one of the Disney movies I was in ... The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. They took Stargate and made it into the most successful series, they took Backdraft and made that into two television shows that did okay I guess, They're gonna remake The Thing, they talked about remaking Escape from New York. You know what ... whatever, and good on you."

Question: So, you're not worried about it? "I feel like we did what we did, and that's always gonna be there. It'll be there to be compared, I'm sure it will be, they have to do that. My thoughts on it were, as a joke, you know when somebody said that about Gerard Butler playing Snake ... it is interesting to create a role that is iconic, and then have somebody go do that. That's interesting. At the same time, I had a sort of joke response, which is the way look at life, which is 'Oh my god, wait 'til Stuntman Mike (his character in Death Proof) hears about this.' (laughter).

"That's how I feel about! Maybe 30 years from now, someone's gonna do Stuntman Mike, and, well ... I got my version. You know, that's kind of all I think about it, I don't know what else to say."

So, probably not the final word on the whole matter, but it sounds like once he originally blew off some steam about the issue, he's starting to come to terms with it. Not sure he'll be front and center at the premiere for the remake, however.

Just a few days ago we learned that a new rendition of John Carpenter's Escape from New York was in the planning stages, and also that 300 star Gerard Butler had been tapped to play the role of legendary bad-ass Snake Plissken. (Then we heard that the project might be more of a prequel than a remake, but who really knows at this point?) Either way the thing is definitely moving forward, much to the apparent chagrin of the original Snake Plissken.

"I will say that when I was told who was going to play Snake Plissken, my initial reaction was 'Oh, man!' [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American," is what Kurt Rusell recently told Entertainment Weekly. Ouch. See, I never really got much of the "patriotism" vibe from the Plissken character ... and I've seen Escape from New York about a dozen times. (Plus, doesn't he end the movie sort of dooming America to a new stone age?) The actor also insists that he "created" Snake Plissken, despite the fact that the screenwriting credits on Escape from New York belong to John Carpenter and Nick Castle. Not knocking the guy's cult classic performance, but ... created? C'mon, Kurt, chill out a little.

But it gets a bit zanier. Russell, an actor I've always admired and still do, also got a little snippy while discussing the possibility of a cameo appearance: "(Expletive) that! I am Snake Plissken! It's like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond." Really, Kurt? One kitschy masterpiece and a really lame sequel are the same as, say, Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball and Goldfinger? I mean, if you felt such a connection to the character, then why didn't you and Carpenter come up with a few new ideas every few years? (Oh, how I've tried to enjoy Escape from L.A. I really have.) I don't care if he's being a bit short-sighted on this one. Kurt Russell is still the man. I bet he could beat up Chuck Norris.

There's a great interview with director John Carpenter over at suicidegirls.com. I'm going to link to it now, but please don't click on the link if you're at work. The site has some erotic content and any site with the words "suicide" and "girls" in the title is going to raise some red flags in HR. You've been warned. Here you go. Now then, Carpenter is something of a legend; he's been making films for over 30 years, he writes, directs, produces, writes scores for his movies, etc. And he made Big Trouble In Little China, which is one of the finest B-movies ever made. The interview is excellent, Carpenter is just as frank and funny as he is on his hilarious commentary tracks.

He talks about modern horror, saying he loves the Saw series and the "show everything" style of horror so popular these days. He discusses the new Escape From New York we told you about last week, and while he doesn't seem to know a whole lot about it, he does say he doesn't think it will quite be a remake, saying it's more about the character of Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) before he gets to New York. So it sounds more like a prequel, though he doesn't use that word. Carpenter has a line in the interview about what his role is in the new Escape that made me laugh right out loud: "My main involvement is I read the scripts and make sure the character is the same character that we wrote originally. I think that would be cool. My other main involvement in this project is to extend my hand and have a check placed in it." You gotta love that honesty! He adds: "After 30 odd years of being in the f*cking business, it's nice to not have to do anything and get paid. That's what I've been trying to do all my life." Isn't that what we all want?

I am now certain that John Carpenter made a Pact With the Devil. With this evil bargain Carpenter gained an awesome career making classic after classic in the 70s and 80s. Satan, on the other hand, gained remake rights to all of these classics, which he is now selling off to the studios. With a just announced redo of Escape From New York added to the list, all five of Carpenter's features from 1976 (Assault on Precinct 13) to 1982 (The Thing) have been or are being remade. Of course, The Thing doesn't exactly count since Carpenter's was already a remake, but if I hear about an update of Christine or Dark Star, I'm going to start getting worried about my most beloved Carpenter classic, Big Trouble in Little China.

The new Escape From New York is being written by Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) but no director is attached yet. Gerard Butler, a hot property now that 300 is a hit, is in negotiations for the role of patch-eyed Snake Plissken, who was played by Kurt Russell in the original as well as the sequel, Escape From L.A. (I guess he definitely won't be doing Escape From Earth now.) The film, for those of you who aren't familiar, is set in Manhattan in the future (1997 in the original) after the whole borough has been turned into a maximum security prison. When the President of the United States crash lands on the island, his rescue is put in the hands of Snake, a prisoner who is offered freedom if his mission is successful.

As you hopefully recall, we reported yesterday on the at least slightly dubious rumor that Paramount recently held a high-level meeting about making another Snake Plissken movie -- Escape from Earth, based on an old John Carpenter screenplay. No one really knew if the anonymous tipster's story was reliable or not until AICN rumor-king Harry Knowles Moriarty jumped on the email horn and checked in with Carpenter and his wife/producer Sandy King to get some answers. And, in short, it's not happening. As it happens, though, Carpenter actually was very busy last week, just not with Paramount. According to King, her husband "spent a rousing week playing Tom Clancy's war video games and smoking in his favorite chair and eating fried chicken." Man. So that's what life is like for John Carpenter? Can I be a legendary screenwriter/director/composer, too?

Today's sequel rumors involve two franchises, one beloved and the other profitable. The first is the Snake Plissken saga, which began with the cult classic Escape from New York, and was later revived with the not-great (but excusable because, you know, it's Snake) Escape from L.A. According to a report at Blood Disgusting, Snake may just be escaping again in the near future -- their tipster claims that "A major meeting was held at Paramount last week with both John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in attendance." Supposedly, the screenplay (which is called Escape from Earth -- is it possible to jump the shark just from a title?) was completed years ago, but Paramount wasn't interested until Russell told them he'd only sign a new, three-picture deal if they made another Escape first. Hmm. Really? Russell's a good, quiet actor when he's allowed to play a normal guy, but why on earth would signing him be so important that Paramount would sink cash into a movie they've got no reason to believe would turn a profit, particularly since Escape from LA was a loser for them? Neither Plissken nor Russell is exactly box office gold.

The other sequel being discussed, however, is pretty much guaranteed to make money: Charlie's Angels 3. According to Moviehole, Sky News is reporting that producer Drew Barrymore is hell-bent on keeping the series going, whether Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz -- not to mention director McG -- come back or not. Frankly, it's hard to think of reasons that Columbia wouldn't make this film eventually -- even the second one, which cost about $120 million and currently has as rating below five at the IMDb, took in over $250 million worldwide. What's not to like?