Back in 2004 I visited the set of Sony Screen Gems’ The Fog, a remake of John Carpenter‘s 1980 horror classic.
Upon arrival, I was surprised to learn Carpenter was on set. Why? From what I has learned about the legendary genre director is that he was pretty much done with film, and spent his time playing videogames and watching the NBA (love it). In fact, he was pretty standoffish until we asked him about the Phoenix Suns (the year Steve Nash won MVP), which is when he lit up like fireworks.
After our on-set conversation, we had a chance to formally interview him about the remake. When asked why he was there, he basically exclaimed, “They paid me.” A shocking jolt of honesty that I was already used to hearing out of his mouth. He really didn’t give a shit about the movie, so long as he received a fistful of money so he could play more videogames, watch more basketball and eat even more In and Out. Again, that’s awesome.
Back on June 1st it was reported that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in talks to produce and star in a remake of Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China. People went into a fit of rage. So, The Rock did what he does so well as a WWE superstar… pander to the audience. A week later he was quoted as saying, “I loved reading the reactions from the fans, that they were so polarized – I’m the same way. My response is: know that I come to the project with nothing but love and respect for the original, which is why we want to bring on John Carpenter.”
They may want to bring on Carpenter, but it’s not going to be easy, unless of course they have Scrooge McDuck bags of money dropped off at his house.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Carpenter stated, “I’m ambivalent about a remake…On the other hand, it depends on how much they pay me.”
They further added that, in an exchange on his Facebook page last week, Carpenter said that he doesn’t own the rights to the movie, nor did he write the original film, so “no harm, no foul.”
Honestly, it’s nice to hear that they want to bring Carpenter on board, but it truly does mean Jack and shit for the redo. Although, if it tricks us horror fans into believing that he’ll be an intricate part of the new film, it may be worth the studio’s money, otherwise they’re just lining his pockets with more arcade quarters.
Thor and X-Men: First Class screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are writing the new Big Trouble In Little China, which follows a trucker who gets pulled into a mystical, supernatural battle in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
