Monarch’s Wyatt Russell Thinks It Would Be a Bad Idea to Remake His Dad’s Movies

Wyatt Russell may have followed in his father Kurt Russell’s footsteps by becoming an actor, but audiences shouldn’t expect to see the actor step into the shoes of his dad in a remake of any of his classics, as he noted that the entire idea of rebooting those originals would be a bad idea in the first place. More than just being beloved films due to Kurt Russell’s performances, the movies that most resonate with audiences are the ones that are entirely original ideas, so retreading similar territory would seemingly be a fruitless endeavor. Audiences can see both Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell in Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters when new episodes premiere on Fridays.

When asked by ComicBook.com about playing any of his father’s iconic characters and how much they resemble each other, Wyatt Russell shook his head and admitted, “Everybody’s said that. Part of what made his career so cool is that they were so unique. They have this living, breathing life beyond an opening weekend and that’s only because they’re these incredible ideas. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell and everybody else on those movies created them, and they’re incredibly contained, they’re original ideas, [they weren’t] comic books before. I guess The Thing was from Who Goes There? or whatever. I know people have tried to remake them, I think it’s a bad idea, to be honest.”

One of the most recent reports about a Kurt Russell film being revived claims that Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, the directors of Scream and Scream VI, were developing a new take on Escape from New York, in which Russell played Snake Plissken. Russell returned to the role for Escape from L.A., though it’s currently unknown if the next installment will continue the narrative or serve as a complete reboot.

As if the entire idea of reviving one of his father’s films wasn’t something he was opposed to, Wyatt Russell previously explained how damaging it would be as an actor to try to live up to his father’s legacy with a reboot.

“Although that’s very kind, that will not be happening,” Russell shared with Esquire in 2021 when talking about playing Snake Plissken. “There will be no Snake reboot from me, that’s like career suicide 101. That’s like what not to do. I don’t know if anybody else could be Snake Plissken. Good luck, go get ’em, I sincerely wish you the best of luck. I just don’t know how it’s possible. And for me, if I really wanted to get people sending me hate mail, I think that’s what I should do. I will not be ever doing anything like that.”  

Interestingly, both Russells play the same character at different ages in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which releases new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.

What do you think of the actor’s remarks? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!