Clint Eastwood's Big Trouble In Little China Casting Would Have Been A Disaster
Clint Eastwood was considered for the lead role in Big Trouble In Little China, but here's why that would have been disastrous for the movie. After scoring indie hits likeHalloween, director John Carpenter made the leap to studio filmmaking with his 1982 remake of The Thing. Despite being hailed a genre classic now, the movie was roundly lambasted upon release for its gruesome special effects and despairing tone. The movie's failure also impacted Carpenter's career, with Universal removing him from Stephen King adaptation Firestarter and the helmer instead focused less on passion projects and more on work-for-hire gigs like Christine — ironically, another King book.
1986 saw the arrival of two studio movies themed around Chinese mysticism; The Golden Child and Big Trouble In Little China (which has an upcoming Dwayne Johnson remake). Carpenter directed the latter after rejecting the former, with the helmer being a big fan of Chinese fantasy movies and wanting to bring that style to American viewers. It was filled with spectacular action and sets, but while it became a major cult favorite, it was another box-office bomb. He attributed this to a clash with studio executives during post-production, as they expected an adventure like the Indiana Jones series, but hated that the final product made its protagonist Jack Burton a total idiot.
Related: Clint Eastwood's Only Two Horror Movie Roles, Explained
Big Trouble In Little China sought to subvert the trope of the white outsider coming to save the day for non-white characters. Instead, Kurt Russell's Burton believes he's the hero when his «sidekick» Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) is actually saving the day most of the time. Russell — who has made a few solid horror movies — has a
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