KARATE KID remake officially announced!

According to Variety, Columbia Pictures will do a new version of the 1984 hit, THE KARATE KID. Will Smith’s 10-year-old son, Jaden Smith (The Pursuit of Happiness), will star in the film with its setting taking place in Beijing. While the story will be updated to fit the young actor, the basic elements of a bullied youth who learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor will remain the same. It’s hard to believe that Hollywood is remaking films that are not even 25 years old. The original Karate Kid is a classic film. It’s a textbook example of a great mainstream movie that captured movie magic at its best. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita had incredible chemistry playing Daniel Larusso and Mr. Miyagi. The Karate Kid was part of an incredible summer at the movies that year which featured films like Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins. I saw The Karate Kid eight times that summer. I must admit I find the idea of this remake a bad one, with the biggest problem casting an actor who’s only ten years old. Earlier this year there was a film titled NEVER BACK DOWN (which I actually enjoyed) that aped the storyline somewhat but never used the original title. While greed and madness continue to permeate the mindset of Hollywood I guess I’ll always have the memory of the 1984 original which cannot be done any better! Here’s the trailer to the Original Karate Kid.