Escape from L.A.

Escape from L.A.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Carpenter
Written by
Based on
Characters
by
Produced by
  • Debra Hill
  • Kurt Russell
Starring
CinematographyGary B. Kibbe
Edited byEdward A. Warschilka
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • August 9, 1996 (1996-08-09)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million
Box office$42.3 million

Escape from L.A. (stylized on-screen as John Carpenter's Escape from L.A.) is a 1996 American post-apocalyptic action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter, co-written and produced by Debra Hill and Kurt Russell, with Russell reprising his role as Snake Plissken. A sequel to Escape from New York (1981), the film co-stars Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Bruce Campbell, Peter Fonda, and Pam Grier.

The film, set in a then-near-future world of 2013, sees the United States ruled by a theocratic President for life. Los Angeles, after an earthquake severed the city from the mainland, has been constructed as a prison-like island. When the president's daughter steals the remote of a new superweapon and escapes to L.A., Plissken is recruited to retrieve the remote in exchange for the waiving of his upcoming deportation.

Released on August 9, 1996, Escape from L.A. was a box office and critical failure.