Butler has 'Escape' plan

'300' star heads to 'New York'

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Butler

Hot off the socko bow of "300" this past weekend, star Gerard Butler is at the center of a package that CAA began shopping Monday for a remake of John Carpenter's 1981 actioner "Escape From New York."

Neal Moritz is attached to produce, with "Black Hawk Down" scribe Ken Nolan penning the screenplay.

Several studios are battling for the pic, mostly because the $70 million launch of "300" signaled the arrival of an emerging action star in Butler. A deal is expected to be made this week.

Butler would play Snake Plissken, the one-eyed convict who's charged with heading into the inescapable maximum security prison formerly known as Manhattan to liberate the U.S. president.

Kurt Russell originated the role and reprised it in the 1996 sequel "Escape to L.A."