If there’s one thing that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has never been called, it’s ‘complacent’. Having risen to become one of the biggest action stars on the planet, he’s constantly jumping from project to project. These include a spin-off of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, “Hobbs and Shaw”, a “Black Adam” project for DC Films tying into next year’s “Shazam” (on which he holds an executive-producer credit), and a sequel to the 2017 sleeper hit “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”. Johnson, who also finds time to occasionally step back into the pro-wrestling arena, is also attached to a modern take on “Big Trouble in Little China”, and whilst it had long been believed to be a remake of the 1986 film, it’s recently been made clear that it’ll actually be a continuation of the story that began in John Carpenter’s cult classic.
Speaking to Collider, Hiram Garcia, president of production of Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, revealed what the new film will entail:
“There’s a lot of things going on with ‘Big Trouble in Little China’. We are in the process of developing that, and let me tell you, the idea is not to actually remake ‘Big Trouble in Little China’. You can’t remake a classic like that, so what we’re planning to do is we’re going to continue the story. We’re going to continue the universe of ‘Big Trouble in Little China’. Everything that happened in the original exists and is standalone and I think there’s only one person that could ever play Jack Burton, so Dwayne would never try and play that character. So we are just having a lot of fun. We’re actually in a really great space with the story that we’ve cracked. But yeah, no remake. It is a continuation, and we are deep into development on that as well, and I think you’ll start hearing some things about that probably soon.”
What fans of the original may find particularly intriguing about Garcia’s statement is his description of the film as a “continuation” rather than a “sequel”, as the former leaves a lot more open to interpretation. With the confirmation that Johnson will not be assuming the role of the original’s confident but clumsy protagonist Jack Burton, Garcia’s statement would suggest a relationship with the original film more in the vein of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” and its 2017 continuation “Split” and next year’s follow-up, “Glass” (exactly HOW those three are connected will remain unspoiled for those not in the know)! In any case, Garcia’s comments and the sheer zeal Johnson brings to everything he does will give fans of “Big Trouble in Little China” plenty to ponder over as the project continues to develop.
Stay tuned for more info on the continuation of “Big Trouble in Little China” as it arrives! In the meantime – what are your thoughts on The Rock stepping into the universe of “Little China”, what would you expect or love to see? Let us know in the comments below; Like, share and join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. (Want more ‘trouble’? Well, here’s a whole lot of FUnews at your fingertips. Also check out our interviews with Jay Longino and Canaan White, whose graphic novel “Son of Shaolin” is also being developed into a movie by Seven Bucks Productions!)
