Eddie Huang Nearly Cast Pop Smoke In 'The Last Dragon' Remake

Pop Smoke will appear in a small role in Huang's forthcoming film Boogie.

Eddie Huang appeared on Dave Chang's podcast today for an informative episode. The Fresh off the Boat author and noted hip-hop fan dropped a bombshell during the podcast involving the late Pop Smoke. According to Huang, he was approached by Columbia Pictures to pitch a remake of the 1985 classic The Last Dragon that would feature Pop as the film's antagonist, Sho'Nuff.

"They were like, 'we're doing a remake of The Last Dragon," Huang began. "I was like 'what, shut the fuck up...that is the most slept on film of the '80s!' They said 'The Gordy family, Columbia, we want to remake the film. And I actually got to pitch a version of The Last Dragon."

"I talked to Pop Smoke about it," Huang said. "Pop's manager, Rico, was a huge Sho'Nuff fan. It was funny cause I was talking to Pop about it — 'bro, you’d be an amazing Sho’Nuff' -- and he was like “What’s the Last Dragon?” And his manager was like “I can’t believe you haven’t seen this film!” The whole bus started talking about how the greatest ‘80s New York movies were The Last Dragon and King of New York."

Sadly, another director eventually got the job. Currently, Huang believes the script is now stalled. In Huang's version, the remake would be a "gentrification comedy, 'cause Black people are being pushed out of Harlem now." Huang successfully casted Pop Smoke in a small role in Boogie, a film about a "Chinese-American basketball phenom who struggles to balance the expectations of his immigrant family with his own dreams of becoming a player for the NBA." Dave East also appears in the film, which does not have a release date at this point.

Stream the full episode of The Dave Chang Show on Apple Podcasts.