The Rock's 'Big Trouble in Little China' Is a Continuation Instead of a Reboot

The original Big Trouble in Little China offered audiences a unique blend of action, humor, fantasy, and horror, making it a unique film to attempt to replicate for modern audiences. Regardless, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson aims to bring a new incarnation of the John Carpenter film to life, which has long been described as a remake. According to producer Hiram Garcia, the project would be more accurately described as a "continuation" of the original story instead of a remake.

"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," Hiram shared with Collider. "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."

The original 1986 film was one of many collaborations between Carpenter and Kurt Russell, with Russell starring as Jack Burton, a man who gets mixed up in a kidnapping, gang warfare, and magic in San Francisco's seedy underbelly. While the film itself might not be a household title, genre fans have helped expand its cult following, with Burton considered by many to be one of Russell's defining characters.

"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," Hiram noted. "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."

Of the many things the original film is remembered for, Jack Burton and Russell's performance is an integral component, with this news that Johnson won't attempt to recreate the character coming as a relief to many fans, while also potentially allowing Russell to appear in some capacity. Burton's adventures following the film were chronicled in multiple comic book series, though this would be the first live-action continuation of the film.

The approach to the upcoming film sounds familiar to 2016's Ghostbusters, which served as a soft reboot of a franchise that many cherished so passionately that studios erred on the side of caution by not calling it a "remake." Johnson was involved in another soft reboot last year with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which was a follow-up to the 1995 film yet also served as a remake for those audiences unfamiliar with the source material.

Stay tuned for details about the Big Trouble in Little China continuation.

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[H/T Collider]