Clint Eastwood Missed Out On The Chance To Parody John Wayne In This Cult 1980s Martial Arts Comedy

Clint Eastwood could have tested out his John Wayne impression had he signed on to Big Trouble in Little China. The John Carpenter movie run during the 1970s and 1980s is legendary, yielding back-to-back classics like Halloween and The Thing. Big Trouble in Little China is another gem and marked the fourth collaboration between Carpenter and Kurt Russell.

Russell and Carpenter brought out the best in one another, with this 1986 martial arts adventure being their funniest collaboration. Sadly, Big Trouble in Little China was a bomb, grossing $11 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), roughly half its production budget.

Audiences and critics didn’t get the film’s blend of martial arts and subversive humor, where Russell’s macho trucker Jack Burton believing he’s the protagonist, when he’s actually the sidekick to Dennis Dun’s Wang Chi. It’s these ingredients that make it a cult favorite.

Since he was playing a know it all blowhard, Russell based Jack Burton on John Wayne. It’s a playful jab at the Western icon, who fronted some of Carpenter’s favorite movies, like Rio Bravo. Carpenter also came to Russell after his first choice, Clint Eastwood, turned it down.

Clint Eastwood Pᴀssed On Big Trouble In Little China

Jack Nicholson wasn’t interested in making Big Trouble for himself either

Clint Eastwood on the cover of The Outlaw Josey Wales

Big Trouble in Little China was one of two big adventure blockbusters steeped in Chinese mysticism to arrive in 1986, with the other being Eddie Murphy’s The Golden Child. Carpenter was originally attached to the latter, but decided to switch to Big Trouble in Little China instead.

Possibly as a way to compete with Murphy’s star power, Carpenter initially sought a big name for his film. Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood were the first options, though neither were available. In truth, it’s hard to see Eastwood agreeing to sign on for the film anyway.

Big Trouble in Little China was a 20th Century Fox production, whereas Clint (almost) always worked with Warner Bros. Eastwood also tended to avoid effects-heavy productions, so the complex VFX and fight sequences involved in Carpenter’s film may have tested Clint’s patience. All that, and he mostly directed his own projects, too.

Kurt Russell and John Carpenter’s final movie to date is 1996’s Escape from L.A.

Still, Clint had played comedy before, and had even played a dim but lovable truck driver already in Every Which Way But Loose. It would have been fascinating to see how Clint and Carpenter worked together, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Big Trouble In Little China’s Jack Burton Is A John Wayne Parody

Kurt Russell’s performance is an ode to The Duke

Carpenter had almost worked with Wayne years before Big Trouble in Little China, after writing a screenplay for him dubbed Blood River; ultimately, that film didn’t happen with Wayne. Both Carpenter and Russell saw Burton as the embodiment of the cocky, brash American who thinks they know everything.

John Wayne himself probably would have had fun playing the Jack Burton role, had Big Trouble in Little China been made over a decade earlier.

The irony of Burton is that he’s just an idiot who doesn’t do much to help, and only defeats the main villain through dumb luck. There’s something delightful about Russell’s hammy overacting in most of his scenes, too, where he imparts Burton’s blustering wisdom and claims to be on top of events – despite barely understanding what’s happening.

Wayne himself probably would have had fun playing the role, had the movie been made over a decade earlier. Unfortunately for Carpenter, it turns out Fox hadn’t understood that Burton was supposed to be a useless idiot before production began, leading to nasty post-production clashes over the movie’s tone.

Big Trouble In Little China Would Have Let Clint Essentially Play John Wayne

Jack Burton would have allowed Clint to test out his John Wayne impression

John Wayne in The Searchers and Clint Eastwood from Unforgiven — Custom image by Ana Nieves

Had Clint been tempted by Big Trouble in Little China, that would have created the interesting scenario where he got to parody his old rival John Wayne. Reports of a Wayne/Eastwood feud are mostly overblown, though it’s common knowledge Wayne disliked Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter for its dark depiction of the Old West.

… getting to see Clint Eastwood parody John Wayne would have been something special.

At one point, Wayne even suggested to Eastwood that they should make a Western together, with the latter pᴀssing on True Grit as he didn’t like the role being offered. Wayne and Eastwood remain two of the Western genre’s biggest icons, so getting to see Clint parody Wayne would have been something special.

That said, Eastwood may have had a different read on Burton or decided it was a bad idea to make fun of Wayne, even in a playful way. We’ll never know, and it feels like Russell was better casting for Jack Burton anyway.

Big Trouble In Little China Isn’t The First Time Kurt Russell Stood In For Clint Eastwood

Carpenter once eyed Clint for Snake Plissken

Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken playing with a lighter in Escape from New York.

Big Trouble in Little China wasn’t the first time Russell stood in for Eastwood in a John Carpenter movie. When Carpenter first penned Escape from New York in 1974, he pictured Clint – then riding high off the success of the first two Dirty Harrys – as Snake Plissken.

When it came time to actually make the film, Eastwood was well out of Escape from New York’s price range. After Charles Bronson and Tommy Lee Jones were mooted for the role, Carpenter went for his Elvis miniseries leading man, Kurt Russell instead.

Not only did Escape from New York break Russell’s typecasting as a Disney teen star, but it also put him on the path to movie stardom. When it came to playing the part, Russell decided that since he was squaring off against The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’s Lee Van Cleef, then he should channel Eastwood while playing Snake.

So, from Snake’s low raspy voice to his ice-cool demeanor, Russell is doing his best Clint Eastwood impression. In that regard, it’s funny to think that Carpenter directed Russell in movies where he technically played Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood, and John Wayne. Big Trouble in Little China is definitely the funniest out of those three, however.

Source: Box Office Mojo