A New Karate Kid... again?

Good grief.

*sigh*[sup]tm[/sup]

Let's just milk a dead franchise for a little more cash. *sigh*

What is with all the remakes? Digging up old franchises from decades ago? Does nobody have any fresh, original ideas anymore? Makes me sad.

Satori1977 said:

What is with all the remakes? Digging up old franchises from decades ago? Does nobody have any fresh, original ideas anymore? Makes me sad.

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THis is the thing about Hollywood being a business.

The Karate kid is a winning formula, the name is a trademark, and the next generation has no idea what the original Karate kid was about.

Thus, you have a guaranteed $40M movie, if you can make the movie for under $20M, then you have a guaranteed $20M profit, so why not...

At least, that is the thinking of the hollywood execs.

But yeah, as a follow artist, going dumpster diving for old movies to brush off, touch up, and repackage always makes me sad...

Mel...

But Jaden Smith? Somehow I think Will Smith might have known better than trying to screw up a classic with his kid (Jaden Smith is not even 10)....

Cyia said:

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies...han-circles-quotkarate-kidquot-remake-reuters

So,Jackie Chan would be playing the Karate instructor and Jaden Smith would be his pupil. I guess Mr. Miyagi is no longer from Okinawa?

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Karate, gong fu, it's all the same to Hollywood. Hope it sucks ass, because the truth is, the original wasn't all that hot. Kind of endearing, but hardly bravura filmmaking.

This sounds like a recipe for disaster.

*marks down for my Do Not Watch list*

dgiharris said:

THis is the thing about Hollywood being a business.

The Karate kid is a winning formula, the name is a trademark, and the next generation has no idea what the original Karate kid was about.

Thus, you have a guaranteed $40M movie, if you can make the movie for under $20M, then you have a guaranteed $20M profit, so why not...

At least, that is the thinking of the hollywood execs.

But yeah, as a follow artist, going dumpster diving for old movies to brush off, touch up, and repackage always makes me sad...

Mel...

Click to expand...

Well, your numbers are wrong, but your theory is correct.

Actually, I really wonder how much in foreign pre-sales a movie like this would generate? I would guess that casting Chan guarantees some action in the hot Asian markets, like China and HK, but elsewhere?

My first thoughts when hearing the name Jaden Smith, was that they were going after the Disney market.

Personally, I think it is a good move (or as good a move as can expected for rehashing the rehashed), the story dynamics for the 'teenager' have already been done, so at least in this sense, maybe they can bring something new to the franchise by applying those dynamics to the pre-teens.

Noah Body said:

Well, your numbers are wrong, but your theory is correct.

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I'm not quite so sure (about the numbers being wrong). I wasn't talking about how much the first KK made, I was guesstimating how much a rerelease would make.
If they open in theaters with the names Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, if they target the Disney audience, I don't think $40M is out of the question. Especially if you factor in the after market, DvD sales, and release to cable television. IN fact, this is how the Full House twins built a Billion dollar enterprise, the 'kid market' is HUGE and built primarly on DvD sales and cable television.

Mel...

Check out www.thekaratekid.com. He is the real karate kid on whom they based the film without his permission. He lost the law suit when a judge abruptly ended the trial -- a questionable decision perhaps.