It’s three years since we found out the planned follow-up to 80s classic Big Trouble in Little China starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was actually planned as a sequel set in the same universe rather than a dreaded reboot (here) and since then… nothing.
However, it seems that silence does not mean the project is dead as Seven Bucks’ (Johnson’s production company) president of production, Hiram Garcia, has been giving an update on the superstar’s upcoming and planned projects.
He revealed that the next Jumanji is still at the planning stages (“It’s important for us to deliver something big for the fans while still expanding on our Jumanji story”), a second season of The Rock TV series is coming and that a reboot of The Scorpion King is forthcoming (“We just got a first draft in and we’re having a polish done on it now. That’s such a beloved franchise, and like you alluded to, that entire world including the Mummy and Scorpion King are so much fun that we just want to continue telling stories in that space.”), however, the news we were most excited about was that the Big Trouble in Little China movie is still in development. However, it’s not all plain-sailing as had been hoped.
“It’s still an ambition of ours but unfortunately there are complications that come with a legacy property like that which has so much attached to it from over the years,” Garcia says.
“We have a really fun idea on what we’d want to do with it, especially since our goal was never to remake Big Trouble but simply continue it. Similar to what we did with Jumanji we would continue the story and make sure the original stands on its own since it means so much to us and fans all around the world.
“So needless to say we are still working on making that happen but as with any great project the road is not easy but we are sticking to it! We’re going to figure out a way to continue the story of Big Trouble in Little China.”
When asked about John carpenter, the writer/director/creator of the franchise not being one to mince words, Garcia replied: “No, he’s not. He’ll tell you exactly what he thinks and how he feels, but that’s what makes him so great.”
Honestly, Big Trouble is one of my favorite movies and, while the idea of revisiting it fills me with fear, recent projects such as Cobra Kai, Blade Runner 2049 and Ghostbusters: Afterlife which looks like it will be done with love and respect to the original as well as a nice return to the more traditional effects of the time, fills me with the hope that a sequel/spin-off could still be done well and, at the very least, won’t tarnish the original.
Plus, the involvement of Carpenter leaves me feeling more confident about the project.
I know that recently the Big Trouble universe has had something of a resurgence with novels, comics and games but I think we can all agree that having Kurt Russell back as an older Jack Burton would be the dream of a lot of fans come true.
So… let’s keep hoping that this will be more Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and less Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.
Thoughts?
Source: Collider
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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