Fans of the 1984 "Karate Kid" movie have more than five months to wait until Jackie Chan's remake hits theaters, but Columbia Pictures released the first preview this week.
"The Karate Kid" remake stars Jaden Smith - the 11-year-old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith - in Ralph Macchio's old role.
Chan fills the martial arts master role that Pat Morita played in the original.
But the biggest substitution is the location - Beijing, China.
Smith's character - 12-year-old Dre Parker - is uprooted from Detroit when his mother (played by Taraji P. Henson) takes a job in Beijing. Like Macchio's Daniel, who moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles, Dre is confronted by a bully skilled in karate.
His fortunes change after he is befriended by Mr. Han (Chan) - a maintenance man who is secretly a kung fu master.
"The only way to stop them is to face them," Mr. Han tells Dre.
Instead of Morita's famous "wax on, wax off" repetitive teaching method, Chan uses "Take off you jacket ... put it on."
The news release from Colombia summarizes it:
"As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life."
"The Karate Kid" is set for a June 11 release across the United States
soundoff (No Responses)