Director John Carpenter has been upfront with his lack of interest in 20th Century Fox’s planned reboot/sequel of ‘Big Trouble in Little China’.
“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.”
Indeed, box office king Dwayne Johnson is attached to star in a film set in the same universe as Carpenter’s 1986 flop-turned-cult classic, although producer Hiram Garcia was quite clear that Johnson will not be playing Jack Burton, the bumbling hero that Kurt Russell portrayed in the original.
The idea that set the original ‘BTiLC’ apart is that Russell’s Burton would have been the hero of any other picture, and he thought he was the star of this story, only to discover that he is the bumbling sidekick. It appears that the same concept will be grafted onto Johnson’s new character.
As Russell discussed:
“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.”
How does Russell, who has co-starred with Johnson in two of the ‘Fast and Furious’ movies, feel about him taking on a role that is, at least inspired by one of his classics?
“He’s just a really good guy. 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.”
Russell can currently be seen playing Santa Claus in the Netflix family holiday picture ‘The Christmas Chronicles’. He will next appear in a very different project, Quentin Tarantino’s Manson family drama, ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’.
The ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ reboot is still in development. There is no director attached. Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are reportedly working on the screenplay.
Russell gives his blessing with a bit of caution, stating “I always say the same thing, which is, well, you’ve got to make a good movie.”
Source: USA Today
