Tom Hardy and Jason Statham in the running for Escape From New York remake

British movie tough guys Tom Hardy and Jason Statham are going head-to-head to compete for the role made famous by Kurt Russell in a planned remake of John Carpenter film Escape From New York.

Jeremy Renner had previously been linked to lead the cast in the reboot of the 1981 sci-fi classic, but it now appears production bosses at Studio Canal are keen to land The Dark Knight Rises villain Hardy or The Transporter star Statham to portray anti-hero Snake Plissken, according to the New York Daily News.

Studio Canal executives picked up the rights to the remake from New Line bosses in 2011.

A director has yet to be appointed, although Breck Eisner, Len Wiseman and Brett Ratner have all been attached to the project in recent years.

Filming on the movie, which will be produced by Joel Silver, is due to begin this summer (13).