Will Smith’s son to become newest Karate Kid
November 12th, 2008 by James
The movie that introduced Japanese culture and martial arts to an entire generation of Americans will be remade with Will Smith’s son in the starring role:
Jaden Smith, who made his acting debut alongside his famous father in 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness, will play the lead role in the new film, Daily Variety reported.
The original Karate Kid starred Ralph Macchio as a youngster who learnt how to defend himself using martial arts skills taught to him by a mentor played by Pat Morita.
BBC’s article on the new movie contains an odd line:
Filming for the new movie will begin next year in Beijing.
Karate in Beijing? Does that mean they’ll be casting Jet Li as the new Mr. Miyagi?
[via Victory Manual]
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Actually, I’ve heard that Stephen Chow would be playing Mr. Miyagi….
I refuse to see it, I won’t support anything that involves a Scientologist. It was so disappointing to learn that Smith was Hollywood retard # whatever to join that cult.
Bloody hell. But I think for the Hollywood bigshots it’s more a club than a real cult – they are the public face of this group, and get special treatment.
Why was it disappointing to learn that he is a Scientologist, it’s not like you know him personally right?
Who is going to be Mr. Miyagi? I just hope it doesn’t suck.
It might as well suck. The first one did after all.
Blasphemy!
Absolutely! Banish this infidel demon! Use the Force, Daniel-san!
Danieeeeeeeeel-saaaaaaaaan!
Couple this announcement with the supposed Smith/Spielberg remake of Oldboy and the world has suddenly become a much darker place.
Yeah, seriously. Stop touching movies that were made well the first time. Here’s an idea: Subtitle the Korean version of Oldboy and release it. It’ll be a much cheaper and faster production.
Any ASIAN will do for the Yanks and the West, cos we’re all the same.
Funny, that, ain’t it?
And this isn’t ironic at all!
No, it surely must be due to that Rush Hour film with Chris Tucker when he says “Y’all look alike!”
LMAOoooooooooooooooooo
It’s not just Asians, it’s the same with Latin-Americans, Africans, Europeans, Middle-Easterners etc.
For example, an Indian plays an Iraqi in Lost.
South-Americans get racially stereotyped as being tanned people with dark hair and eyes, even tough in Latin-America there are just as many racial groups as in the USA, but in the eyes of the average American, Latinos who look white or black are not Latinos.
Don Cheadle played a Rwandan in Hotel Rwanda even though he has no Rwandan roots.
Americans playing ancient Greeks and Romans who speak in English etc.
Leonardo Dicaprio played Louis XIV, yet he has no French ancestry.
I fail to see how a Chinese playing a Japanese is more offensive than the above examples, unless one is racist, such as the Chinese Netizens who complained that Chinese actresses played ‘Japanese whores’ in Memoirs of a Geisha.
So why should American studios perfectly match the ethnicity of Asian actors with their characters when they don’t tend to do it for other non-Americans?
Asians may all look the same to the average American, but the same is true for non Western people in general. What about you? Can you tell the difference between Ecuadorian and Salvadorian? Eritrean and Somalian? Lebanese and Syrian?
Exactly. Eric Bana played an Israeli Jew in Munich. Russel Crow an America. Nicole Kidman a transsexual. That’s what actors do, they act. (And, often, they act horribly)
What I find amusing is that Tor is saying, “All you black and white people are the same, stereotyping us Asians.” If you’ve ever lived in Japan or Korea, you’ve definitely seen thick-accented Russians or Germans playing “Americans” in dramas, among other things. This is not something unique of the West.
This has SUCK wiped on wiped off all over it.
Why not, with that “martial arts/ninja/Japan” fever amongst teenagers from all over the world…For us it might look odd and stupid, but I’d bet this will be a hit among all teen Japan-wannabes.
if it’s stated filming in Beijing shouldn’t it be the “Kung fu Kid” just saying