The Conjuring's James Wan and Patrick Wilson Fantasize About Reviving This John Carpenter Classic
Throughout the '70s and '80s, filmmaker John Carpenter was one of the more prolific storytellers in genre cinema, with his narratives being revived and reimagined various times over the years, including The Conjuring's director James Wan and star Patrick Wilson fantasizing about the opportunity to revive Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. The 1986 film blends together action, comedy, horror, fantasy, and martial arts for an entirely unique experience, which is one reason why the film hasn't earned a reboot or remake in the decades since its debut. Wan and Wilson collaborated not only on The Conjuring franchise, but also on the Insidious and Aquaman series.
"One of the big reasons I love working with Patrick on my films is, he's such a film buff. He's truly, truly a film geek, and when we're working together, a lot of times we're not focused on the film we're shooting -- we're talking about other movies," Wan recalled to Entertainment Weekly. "We all love to geek out about John Carpenter, about Big Trouble in Little China. You know, that's a big film for Patrick and myself, and we always fantasize about doing a remake of [it]."
The filmmaker was quick to clarify, however, that despite that fantasy, he knows how precious the experience is, admitting, "But that's never going to happen. I mean, it's a sacrilege movie!"
The film stars Kurt Russell and marks one of multiple collaborations between Carpenter and Russell, and while there wasn't a live-action follow-up, the adventures of Russell's Jack Burton were continued in various comic books. For nearly a decade, though, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been attempting to bring a new take on the material to life in some capacity.
The nature of a sequel's storyline is yet to be revealed, but James Hong, who played the villainous Lo-Pan in the movie, doesn't think such a film should move forward without the iconic threat.
"Without Lo-Pan? How dare he," Hong joked with ComicBook.com about the planned follow-up. "Well, I think they should leave the classic alone. However, I'd like to reappear in the new one and do something spiritually, like Star Wars where the characters come back and do a reprieve of some kind. Obviously, because let's admit it, Lo-Pan is a huge part of that first one, so how can you forget him?"
Hong isn't the only one dubious of the experience, as even Carpenter himself isn't entirely thrilled by the prospect.
"They want a movie with Dwayne Johnson. That's what they want. So they just picked that title," Carpenter shared with CinemaBlend in 2018. "They don't give a sh-t about me and my movie. That movie wasn't a success."
Stay tuned for details on the possible future of Big Trouble in Little China.
Would you like to see the film get a follow-up? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!