Editing Escape from New York (section)

===Development and writing===
Carpenter originally wrote the screenplay for ''Escape from New York'' in 1976, in the aftermath of [[Richard Nixon]]'s Watergate scandal. Carpenter said, "The whole feeling of the nation was one of real cynicism about the president."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dawson |first1=Dylan |title=Double Future 1997: 'Escape From New York' vs. 'The Fifth Element' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/double-future-1997-escape-from-new-york-vs-the-fifth-element/ |website=Vice |access-date=21 May 2020 |date=9 July 2017}}</ref> He wrote the screenplay, but no studio wanted to make it because, according to Carpenter, "[i]t was too violent, too scary, [and] too weird".<ref>{{cite news|last=Yakir |first=Dan |title='Escape' Gives Us Liberty |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 4, 1980 |url=http://www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com/pages/press/nypost801014.html |access-date=March 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317210916/http://www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com/pages/press/nypost801014.html |archive-date=March 17, 2007 }}</ref> He had been inspired by the film ''[[Death Wish (1974 film)|Death Wish]]'', which was very popular at the time. He did not agree with this film's philosophy, but liked how it conveyed "the sense of New York as a kind of jungle, and I wanted to make a science-fiction film along these lines".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Maronie |first=Samuel J. |title=On the Set with ''Escape from New York'' |magazine=[[Starlog]] |number=45 |date=April 1981 |url=<!-- Keeping dead link for ref, no archive version: http://www.sphosting.com/theefnypage/pressontheset.htm -->}}</ref>

International Film Investors agreed to provide 50% of the budget, and [[Goldcrest Films]] signed a co-financing deal with them. They ended up providing £720,000 of the budget and making a profit of £672,000 from their investment after earning £1,392,000.<ref>{{Cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/myindecisionisfi00eber/page/59 59], 655|title=My indecision is final|url=https://archive.org/details/myindecisionisfi00eber|url-access=registration|first1=Jake|last1= Eberts |first2=Terry|last2=Illott|year=1990 |publisher=Faber and Faber|isbn=9780571148882 }}</ref>