After surviving some pretty unstable events in his new earthquake movie San Andreas, Dwayne Johnson could be gearing up to shake the pillars of heaven in a remake of John Carpenter’s beloved, genre-bending 1986 classic Big Trouble in Little China.
The possibility of the former professional wrestler turned box-office blockbuster machine taking on the role of Jack Burton — memorably played by Kurt Russell in the original film — was first reported by The Wrap. Of course, everything is still unconfirmed at this point, but the notion of a project that pairs one of the ’80s most celebrated action-adventure movies with one of the biggest (and most well-liked) action-movie actors has (unsurprisingly) generated quite a bit of buzz.
A mash-up of supernatural action-adventure themes with classic Kung-Fu and Western elements, the original Big Trouble in Little China cast Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, whose visit with a friend in San Francisco’s Chinatown results in him getting caught up in a showdown with supernatural forces bent on world domination. The eminently quotable film underperformed at the box office when it was initially released, but went on to become a massive hit in the home-video market and is now widely considered one of the greatest films of the ’80s.
According to the new report, X-Men: First Class screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are developing a script for the remake of Big Trouble in Little China, which will be produced by Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, and Johnson himself. The report suggests that the project came about due to the 1986 film being one of Johnson’s favorite movies.
There’s been no word from Carpenter thus far about the idea of his film being remade, and given that Carpenter has made no secret of his belief that the studio was to blame for the original film’s failure to win over critics or audiences, it will be interesting to see how this project develops. Will the star power of Johnson be enough to win over the original film’s fanbase?
For now, fans should probably take ol’ Jack Burton’s advice to heart and sit tight, hold the fort, and keep the home fires burning. (And if the movie isn’t officially announced in the near future … call the president).
