A remake (or sequel?) to the 80s John Carpenter hit, Big Trouble in Little China, is reportedly still on the way, and original star James Hong wants in. Hong starred in the original Big Trouble in Little China as David Lo Pan, a cursed Chinese sorcerer, and the actor would love to somehow reprise the role in the upcoming revival headlined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

“Without Lo-Pan? How dare he. [Chuckles] 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?”

Speaking with Comicbook.com, James Hong is quick to call for the original outing to be left well alone. However, knowing that a revival or possible follow-up starring Dwayne Johnson is going ahead, Hong is eager to return to the franchise and compares his potential return to how the legacy characters were treated in the Disney Star Wars trilogy.

Related: Big Trouble in Little China 2: How to Continue the Legacy

A Big Trouble in Little China Revival Has Been in Development for Years

big-trouble
20th Century Fox

Released way back in 1986, directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong, the original Big Trouble in Little China follows hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who finds himself caught up in a bizarre conflict underneath San Francisco's Chinatown. Featuring an ancient Chinese prince, a crime lord, and a kidnapped woman, Jack must use his brawn and brains to stop the evil Lo Pan from breaking an ancient curse.

Big Trouble in Little China was a commercial failure upon release, but has since garnered a major following thanks to its action, humor, and expert use of B-movie trappings. A remake-slash-revival-slash-sequel has been in the works for years, with reports back in 2015 stating that action superstar Dwayne Johnson will lead the long-gestating project.

While it was assumed that the project in question would be a remake, producer Hiram Garcia has since revealed that it will in fact be a sequel.

"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,” he said in 2018. “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. 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. 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."

Whatever happens with the Big Trouble in Little China revival, surely they can find a place for the legend that is James Hong. Hong will next appear in the stop-motion horror comedy Wendell & Wild, which is due for release on October 28, 2022, by Netflix.