Dwayne Johnson’s Big Trouble in Little China won’t be a remake

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

John Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA starred Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, an all-American trucker who gets dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The original 1986 film is something of a cult classic, which means that it was probably long over-due for a remake. Groan. That's exactly what was announced several years ago when Dwayne Johnson signed on to produce and star in a remake of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Needless to say, fans weren't exactly keen on the idea, and the ensuing backlash forced Dwayne Johnson to respond, assuring fans that he had nothing but love and respect for the original film and that it would only move forward if the remake managed to cut the mustard.

We haven't heard all that much about the BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA remake lately, but Collider recently spoke with Hiram Garcia, president of production at Seven Bucks Productions, who said that the project won't actually be a remake, but rather a continuation of the original film.

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.

It's a good move as it take's the same path as JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, which was also first announced as a remake before revealing itself to be a follow-up to the original. Dwayne Johnson obviously has to be hoping that this will get some of the fans who previously swore the project off back on board, especially as it now opens up the possibility of Kurt Russell reprising the role of Jack Burton in some fashion.

Assuming it actually happens, we're still quite a ways off from Dwayne Johnson's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA as the much-in-demand actor is currently shooting JUNGLE CRUISE and will soon move on to the FAST & FURIOUS spin-off HOBBS AND SHAW. Johnson also has a sequel to JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE as well as the action/thriller RED NOTICE on his future slate as well.

Does knowing that this will be a continuation of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA rather than a remake put your mind at ease?