All has been quiet on the Big Trouble in Little China remake front for some time. We first reported back in 2015 that Duane ‘The Rock’ Johnson was in talks to produce and star in a remake of the John Carpenter classic. In mid-2016, Johnson told Fandango that the project was still in the works, but from there on out, it has been mostly radio silence.
Today we have a bit of an update on the project but it’s not great news, nor does it inspire confidence in the production. In a conversation with USA Today, Kurt Russell (who famously starred as Jack Burton in the John Carpenter original) seemed to suggest that he had very little interest in getting involved with the reboot. When the project was first announced, Johnson seemed optimistic about getting both Kurt Russell and John Carpenter involved. So, this latest development could certainly come as a blow to the planned redux.
Russel told the outlet that Johnson is “a really good guy”. He then went on to say: “I like working with him and if he’s going to do it, he and his crew will hopefully be able to come up with something that I guess makes the title work.”
Related: Seven Standout Performances in John Carpenter Films
Russel continued by saying that the look and feel of Carpenter’s film “was very, very fresh at that time,” He also pointed out that it could be difficult to recreate the Jack Burton role because of how unconventional it was. “Nobody had ever done a leading man who didn’t realize he wasn’t the leading man. He behaves like the sidekick but doesn’t know that. That hadn’t been done and it was difficult for the studio to get around in terms of promoting it, too,” explained Russell.
As of the original announcement, the script was being penned by Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class). Stay tuned to the site for more on this project as it is announced.
