Well, it happened. John Carpenter’s 1986 cult hit BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA is set to get a reboot with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the lead role of Jack Burton. Johnson seems like a solid choice to play the role. The Rock has paid his acting dues in a variety of starring and supporting roles over the past decade. He has charisma to burn, can lip-synch like a champ (Google The Late Show) and is ready for a franchise he can call his own.
The original was a comedy-actioner that starred Kurt Russell as Burton, a somewhat goofy, occasionally heroic truck driver who gets entangled in the schemes of sorcerer David Lo Pan and has to fight supernatural forces to help his Chinatown friends. The movie was an expensive flop, but has gained in reputation since. It’s a smörgåsbord of old school martial arts sequences and cutting-edge 1980s practical effects. It has a cast that includes Dennis Dun, Kim Cattrall and James Hong and they revel in the cinematic mayhem and calculated corniness. If you haven’t seen the movie, delay no further; buy the Blu-ray, purchase a download, stream it, borrow your dad’s VHS copy–do whatever you have to do.
Predictably, some fans of the original have been upset by the news and reached out to the original’s John Carpenter over the communication portal known as Twitter. The veteran director has no part in the reboot, but is reportedly fine with it.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS scriptwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz have been engaged to pen the reboot. It remains to be seen if they refocus the action to the Burton character, although here at AccessReel.com, our Magic 8 Ball says, signs point to yes. Johnson will produce with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. This is all that is known as of now, not even a potential release date has been announced.
