“Big Trouble in Little China” Japanese Theatrical Poster
Back in 2015, it was reported that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was in talks to star in and produce a remake of John Carpenter‘s cult, kung fu-driven, mystical-filled classic Big Trouble in Little China.
As it turns out, the project will actually be a sequel, not a remake. Collider recently spoke with Hiram Garcia, president of production at Seven Bucks Productions (which was founded by co-CEOs Johnson and Dany Garcia) and one of the producers on Big Trouble in Little China, and he had this to say:
“There’s a lot of things going on with Big Trouble in Little China. We are in the process of developing that, and let me tell you, the idea is not to actually remake it. You can’t remake a classic like that, so what we’re planning to do is we’re going to continue the story. We’re going to continue the universe of Big Trouble in Little China. Everything that happened in the original exists and is standalone and I think there’s only one person that could ever play Jack Burton, so Dwayne would never try and play that character. So we are just having a lot of fun. We’re actually in a really great space with the story that we’ve cracked. But yeah, no remake. It is a continuation, and we are deep into development on that as well, and I think you’ll start hearing some things about that probably soon.”
The 1986 film starred Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a truck driver whose life on the road takes a sudden supernatural tailspin when his best friend’s fiancee is kidnapped. Jack finds himself deep beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown, in a murky, creature-filled world ruled by Lo Pan, a 2000-year-old magician who mercilessly presides over an empire of spirits.
Updates: In a recent interview with Collider, here’s what John Carpenter had to say about the sequel: “They want a movie with Dwayne Johnson. That’s what they want. So, they just picked that title. They don’t give a shit about me and my movie. That movie wasn’t a success. Barry Diller crapped on it.” (On the DVD and Blu-ray commentary of the film, Carpenter remarks that Burton “thinks he’s a whole lot more capable than he is,” with Russell following up this statement with the much more definitive “he’s useless.” With audiences of the 1980s more familiar with macho death machines like John Rambo than the passive goofball that is Jack Burton, the studio began to get nervous, with then-Fox head Barry Diller instructing Carpenter to film the hasty prologue featuring the Egg Shen character telling a lawyer that “we owe Jack Burton everything.” However, once the film begins properly, Burton is still shown to be more baseless bluster than hero, even if evil is defeated in the end. – via DOG)
AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!
As a John Carpenter fan, I’ve learned not to cry over remakes. The originals were ahead of their time. Many were box office failures, later earning a fan base on home video. The remakes seem inevitable (and Carpenter himself doesn’t seem to mind). I guess the best we can hope for is a good film.
I actually like the casting of Dwayne Johnson as Jack Burton, mainly because he’s good at comedy. In the original, Jack acted tough but he was really the idiot sidekick that only thought he was the hero. The characters surrounding him were the ones that got the job done most of the time. I hope they keep the character intact, because Johnson could do that stuff really well.
I love Big Trouble in Little China. I did not need a remake, but as long as it’s a decent film I can probably get behind it. I think casting Johnson is a good start.
I still would’ve preferred Big Trouble in Little China 2 from Carpenter and Kurt Russell, though.
Dwayne Jounson will not be playing Jack Burton according to the article so we are safe there at least. Let them butcher another timeless classic. It will only prove again that these films were so good back in the day and that we live in different times . This shit just doesn’t work anymore.
Considering how the original ended with the monster, I’d like to see a sequel. It’s be great if Kurt Russel returned to pass the torch to Dwayne.
Don’t forget that Carpenter himself has remade other films, so he’s not exempt. Big Trouble is essentially a love letter to several genre films, so people shouldn’t cry foul.