By Lew Harris

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Silver Pictures has made a deal with Studio Canal to remake John Carpenter's 1981 post-apocalyptic classic "Escape From New York."

Silver is planning an entirely new take on the material with a trilogy of films, the first of which will serve as an origin story. Studio Canal, a longtime partner of Silver Pictures and financier of such Silver pictures as "Unknown" and upcoming Liam Neeson starrer "Non-Stop," controls the rights to the film and will finance development before finding a home at a studio.

The original was about a future where New York City has become a giant maximum security prison, into which the president of the U.S. crashes. Kurt Russell, as ex-soldier Snake Plissken, is given 24 hours to find and save him.

Made for $6 million, it brought in more than $245 million, and was followed in 1996 by the sequel "Escape from L.A.," also starring Russell.

A 2007 remake starring Gerard Butler never got off the ground.

No writer or director has yet been attached to the new project. Joel Silver and Andrew Rona will produce, with Silver executive vice presidnet Alex Heineman executive producing.