In a recent interview, director Breck Eisner (The Crazies) spoke a bit about hit upcoming remake of John Carpenter‘s 1981 film, Escape From New York. The director admitted that he would love Timothy Olyphant (Justified) to star as Snake Plissken, a role made famous by Kurt Russell in the original.

Speaking to Movieweb, Eisner said that  Olyphant is one of “the few guys” that could take over the Snake Plissken role from Russell.

“I love working with Timothy Olyphant, and I will be working with him again, He is an amazing actor. A talented guy. And he’s incredibly funny. He needs to do a great comedy, because he is a funny guy. But I will work with him again. I can promise you that.”

“Creatively, he would be great for [Escape From New York]. We have not yet discussed internally within the studio who will play Snake Plissken. There are many factors that go into those discussions. First and foremost, obviously, is the creative one.

“We can’t make the movie unless we get the perfect Snake Plissken, and that’s a tall order. There are very few guys that could do it. He would definitely be one of the guys who could. There is no question about that.”

Escape from New York is slated to hit theaters in 2012.