Dwayne Johnson in talks for ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ remake

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is looking to start some trouble.

The muscular actor is in talks to star in and produce a remake of John Carpenter’s 1986 action-fantasy “Big Trouble in Little China,” The Times has confirmed. The Wrap first reported the news.

Screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who previously worked on the superhero movies “Thor” and “X-Men: First Class,” are to pen the remake, with Johnson’s partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia joining him in producing.

Johnson would play Jack Burton, a cocky but lovable long-haul trucker who gets caught up in an ancient battle between good and evil beneath the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Kurt Russell portrayed the character in the original film, which also starred Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong.

Although it grossed just $11 million at the domestic box office, “Big Trouble” has become something of a cult classic over the years, thanks to its genre-defying mix of mystical action and subversive humor.

Speaking of which, many of the film’s best gags stem from a canny twist: For all his swagger and tough talk, Jack is actually more bumbling sidekick than action hero. (Dun’s levelheaded Wang Chi handles much more of the butt-kicking.)

Johnson, who’s coming off the success of “Furious 7” and the newly released “San Andreas,” is of course an old hand when it comes to saving the day -- but he may want to tone down the heroics just a tad when “Big Trouble” comes knocking.

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