This one is right on the edge of being a real news story and an Oh Don Piano story, but the basic concept that Jody Hill shared with me during our one on one interview for Observe & Report today was just so fucking awesome I wanted to share it with you guys.
It all began innocently. As a The Foot Fist Way fanboy, I asked him if Mike McAlister, the truly insane tae kwon do master he plays in that film, might ever make a comeback, maybe in a Funny or Die short or something. Jody laughed, saying that everytime he bleaches his hair to play that character he has to shave it off, so it would have to be something special to make it worthwhile. But then he started talking about another Foot Fist character he’d like to see return: Chuck ‘The Truck’ Wallace.
If you saw Foot Fist (and you should have by now. It’s great) you’ll know that Chuck The Truck is a faded kung fu movie legend, a sort of Chuck Norris type who makes his living signing autographs at conventions and who seems to just hoover up coke. He’s the bad guy in Foot Fist, and he’s a great sleazy character.
‘I’ve thought about doing a Chuck the Truck prequel,’ Jody told me. ‘Sort of like Boogie Nights where it spans the 70s and 80s, back when Chuck Norris was [big] and they were first televising martial arts. Do it like a Behind the Music thing where he’s doing blow, where he’s a young boy who rises to fame in tournaments.’
I know that’s just a thought he has but… it’s brilliant. You don’t need to know Foot Fist to be able to understand why Boogie Nights Starring Chuck Norris is one of the greatest ideas for a movie ever. You can sell that movie, and I know that Jody Hill can make that movie. The biggest challenge is getting the hilarious Ben Best, who plays Chuck in Foot Fist, to play a kung fu master from his 20s to his downfall.
Every single time I talk to Jody Hill I am going to ask him about this. My promise to you.