'Big Trouble in Little China' sequel – not remake – in the works

Everybody relax, Jack Burton is here. And it turns out he has some good news. Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson -- who was originally slated to play the role of Burton in a remake of Big Trouble in Little China -- now says his movie will be a sequel.

Oh, and he isn't playing Burton anymore.

"There's a lot of things going on with (Big Trouble in Little China)," a member of Johnson's production company told an interviewer, according to a report on Movieweb.com and Collider.com. "The idea is not to actually remake Big Trouble in Little China. 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."

The original 1986 version of Big Trouble in Little China starred Kurt Russell as a rough-all-around-the-edges trucker who helps rescue his friend's fiance from the supernatural world of Chinatown. Directed by John Carpenter, it was only a moderate success at the box office but is one of the biggest cult classics of the decade.

Johnson announced plans to remake the film in 2015, but obviously that mission has changed somewhat. A sequel might be better accepted by the legions of Little China fans over a straight remake. And let's face it: The Rock has his hands full with other projects these days anyway.

No other details on production or a release date have been announced.

'Top Gun 2' release delayed by a year

Wave off, Maverick! Wave off! Top Gun 2: Maverick, originally scheduled for a July 2019 release, is going to need a little extra time to get airborne. Movieweb.com reports the Top Gun sequel will be pushed 11 months for a June 2020 premiere.

Why? The studio says "extensive visual effects work and complicated flight scenes" are behind the delay. We figure all the tinkering to the cast -- Jon Hamm and Ed Harris were just added -- isn't helping either. Also, don't forget that Tom Cruise is also preoccupied these days promoting Mission: Impossible 6, so that probably also has caused extended breaks in shooting.

Movieweb also says Harold Faltermeyer is returning to compose music for the film; '80s soundtrack king Kenny Loggins was already on board for a remake of his Danger Zone anthem.

More 'Police Academy'

is in the works, star says

So there's really another Police Academy movie on the way. Well, if you believe star Steve Guttenberg, who told a fan on social media that it's already in the works.

"The next Police Academy is coming, no details yet, but it is in a gift bag being readied!" Guttenberg wrote on Twitter.

There have been seven Police Academy movies to date, including the original 1984 flick.

The storyline was that a newly elected mayor of an unidentified American city was having a shortage of police, so all previous requirements for the police academy had to be relaxed. And, of course, hilarity ensued.

The cast included Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith and Michael Winslow, who turned his role as "Motor Mouth Jones" into a stand-up career.