Per Discussing Film, Chan is reportedly in talks to reprise his take on Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi from the 2010 remake co-starring Jaden Smith. The recently announced Karate Kid reboot from Sony will be helmed by Jonathan Entwistle, creator of the Netflix series The End of the F***ing World. Sony has not officially confirmed Chan’s participation in the reboot and it is unclear if Smith will reprise his role as Chan’s student.
Directed by Harald Zwart, 2010’s The Karate Kid was a reimagining of the original 1984 film starring Ralph Macchio and Morita. The story followed 12-year-old Dre Parker (Smith) moving from Detroit to Beijing with his car factory worker mom (Taraji P. Henson) where he gets bullied by a group of Kung Fu students. Taken under the wing of maintenance man Mr. Han (Chan), Dre learns an unconventional form of martial arts that applies to life as well. While reviews were generally mixed and Macchio complained about the film’s title, The Karate Kid was a huge financial success for Sony, grossing $359 million worldwide.
The Sequel to the Karate Kid Reboot
A sequel to 2010’s The Karate Kid was in talks for several years after its release with stars Chan, Smith and Henson set to return with Breck Eisner directing. But script issues persisted and the franchise went dormant until the release of Cobra Kai on YouTube Red in 2018. As a continuation of the Miyagi-verse established in the Karate Kid movies that featured Morita, the showrunners of Cobra Kai made clear that the 2010 remake would not be part of their continuity.
Sony announced their Karate Kid reboot last September shortly after the release of Cobra Kai Season 5 on Netflix. Fans believed the new movie would be directly tied to the series; however, co-showrunner Jon Hurwitz confirmed the new Karate Kid movie won’t involve the Cobra Kai cast. Additionally, Macchio has no insight into the reboot’s premise.
“It’s too early to tell what that story is [with the movie],” Macchio said of the Karate Kid reboot. “This is all, like, happening in real-time as you’re asking me this question. I think that [will be figured out] in the near future, or I may have nothing to do with it. We’ll talk when I know what’s going on.”
Sony’s Karate Kid reboot is currently scheduled for release on June 7, 2024.
