The Karate Kid remake, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, announced a sequel shortly after its opening weekend greatly exceeded expectations, banking $56 million – surpassing the production’s budget of $40 million handedly. The film ultimately grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, and it would seem the producers have their pick of screenwriters for the sequel.
Kung Fu Panda scribes Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff have been tapped to pen The Karate Kid II, promising an energetic take on the franchise. Now many have noted The Karate Kid was a beat-by-beat remake in a new locale. In the original’s sequel, The Karate Kid went to Asia with his teacher, so speculation expects this sequel may bring Smith and Chan back to the U.S., as the remake was set in China.
However, director Harold Zwart expects this sequel could go in a new direction, “I personally think it’s now so much on its own two feet, given the success, that it would be interesting to see where we could take it without ever thinking about the old ones.” Though what that new direction might be, he’s reluctant to say, “We have just been playing with a few different ideas, but we haven’t landed on anything at the moment.”
If you want to see more of Voris and Reiff’s work, check out Men of War, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, Bullerproof Monk, and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.
But don’t judge them too harshly for Robin Hood, sources say their draft was eviscerated by Hollywood re-write mania.
Are you excited about The Karate Kid sequel?