New Line has been trying to put together a remake of John Carpenter’s Escape from New York for years now, with both Brett Ratner and Len Wiseman previously attached to direct, and Gerard Butler signed on to star. Now they are making it a top priority to get the project back on track, and it was reported a couple of months ago that Allan Loeb (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 21) had rewritten the script. This week we have learned that New Line has just hired a new director as well: The Crazies helmer Breck Eisner.

Eisner’s remake of George Romero’s The Crazies was surprisingly well-received by critics, and he seems to be building up some credibility with genre fans so he could be a decent choice. However, it’s still hard to forget that this is the same guy who directed Sahara a few years back. This particular remake is a delicate one since the original is such a beloved cult classic, and the Snake Plissken character is one that many people believe can only ever be played by Kurt Russell. Whoever they hire to don the eye patch is going to have to a tough job ahead of them. What do you think, can Breck Eisner pull it off? Who would you like to see in the lead role?