Debra Hill 'Escape From L.A.' Interview [Hollywood Foreign Press/Jul 19/1996/US] By Elisa Leonelli [Courtesy: Elisa Leonelli]


Why did it take so long for you to produce a sequel to Escape From New York?

We made Escape From New York with Avco Embassy 16 years ago and then Avco Embassy was sold to Dino De Laurentiis, with their pretty huge catalog, which had Escape From New York, Time Bandits and The Graduate. Dino unfortunately went bankrupt and in the bankruptcy the Embassy catalog changed hands, it went from Carolco to a number of French companies. So a number of years ago John and I we got together and we said, "Hey, this is real." If the earthquake was big enough L.A. could really turn into an island, so in imitating life we decided to pursue it. Then I started a very long negotiation and really a legal dance with a number of companies, including Canal Plus, that ended up with the rights. Our attorneys were very clever when we first made the movie in that no one could make a picture without John attached to it, and so, because of that, we were able to in some way control the rights and it was interesting. I can say it now because it's past, but we actually wrote a spec script without having the rights, the idea was that we would write a spec script, present it to the market place, and at the same time negotiate with Canal Plus, but not telling them that we were writing the script, and that we would have a script within the period of 24 to 48 hours. So what happened is that we had a studio and the deal in place with Canal Plus. We were very fortunate.

What did you want to focus on in Escape From L.A.?

What's interesting in making a sequel, particularly 16 years later, is the very fine line that you walk in how close to the original do you go, because you don't want to disappoint so many of those fans that have followed Escape From New York, watched it on video over and over again and more recently on laserdisc. You don't want to make a carbon copy, because you want to be able to make it fresh and unique. And you don't want to displease fans, but you also want to be able to find a new audience as well. We had many discussions on how true to keep the sequel, and that's one of the reasons why it was such a good collaboration between the three of us. Kurt kept us true blue to the character of Snake in many ways, but the film is very modernized. There's more humor, and it has a bigger political statement in it than Escape From New York did. And the music really makes it a 90s kind of movie, it makes it unique, it separates it.

Did you as a woman have a different opinion from the two men?

Yes, and I think they did a lot of stuff in there to make fun of me. I mean, how Valeria Golino talks about how in this freedom in L.A. you're still allowed to wear fur coats, that's a direct reflection of me. I don't smoke, they do, and this is a pro-smoking movie, it's an anti-environmentalist movie, but it does make a statement.

Do you see aspect of John and Kurt in Snake?

Yes, because he's a rebel, he's rebellious as a human being. Personally knowing Snake Plissken, knowing Kurt Russell and John Carpenter, I think that Snake Plissken is more like John than Kurt, but Kurt plays him well. There's a dark side of John that is Snake Plissken.