John Carpenter’s cult classic Big Trouble in Little China is getting a dusting-off from 20th Century Fox, which is making a deal with San Andreas star Dwayne Johnson to star in and produce the remake.
Johnson is close to making a deal to play Jack Burton, a truck driver who becomes embroiled in a mystical underworld beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown when he teams with a Chinese friend to rescue the friend’s wife from bandits. X-Men: First Class scribes Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are being tapped to write the script.
Kurt Russell played the lead in Carpenter’s 1986 original, which was actually a box office bomb at the time (earning just $11 million domestically) and is cited as the project that led to the director’s disillusionment with Hollywood. Still, the pic has become a cult classic, and it’s reportedly one of Johnson’s favorite films, which helps to explain why the in-demand star would want a remake for one of his next solo vehicles. He initially pitched a redo to Fox, which holds the rights, along with producing partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia (both at Seven Bucks Productions), before the studio bit.
Johnson’s earthquake flick San Andreas, considered by many to be a test of whether the actor was a considerable box office draw without the Fast & Furious label behind him, grossed a stupendous $54 million domestically in its opening weekend, so studios are understandably gung-ho about working with one of today’s only proven “movie stars.” Next up, the actor formerly known as The Rock will be seen on this summer’s HBO original series Ballers, star in Warner Bros./DC’s Shazam as the villainous Black Adam, lend his voice to Moana, star in Central Intelligence with Kevin Hart and reprise the role of Hobbs in Fast & Furious 8.
Big Trouble in Little China is still in the early stages of development, but with Johnson now attached, it’s sure to pick up steam. We’ll keep you posted when we hear more.
