Now, Disney is planning a remake of the film:

Brad Copeland is writing the remake, which is being produced by Mandeville partners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.

The 1986 original told the story of a 12-year-old boy who is abducted by an alien spacecraft in 1978 and reappears eight years later, still the same age and with no memory of what happened. NASA scientists discover a connection between the boy and a downed spacecraft and try to exploit the boy, who ultimately escapes with the ship and attempts to reunite with his family.

The movie grossed only $17 million when it was released but was later rediscovered on VHS, becoming a cult hit.

John Hyde, who executive produced the first one, steps into the same role for the new version.

Mandeville’s senior vp Albert Page will help oversee development and exec produce. Kristin Burr is overseeing for Disney.

Copeland, repped by UTA, wrote “Wild Hogs” for Disney and is writing “Nightcrawlers” at Warners. He cut his teeth in the TV world, where he acted as writer-producer on “Arrested Development” and recently as writer and consulting producer on “My Name is Earl.”

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This is the first positive news that I have heard. According to an interview with Jackie Chan, found on FirstShowing: “They don’t want to call it Karate Kid any more,” Chan said. “They want to call it The Kung Fu Kid.”

It’s about time that a company got some bit of intelligence when doing a remake of a film that many, including myself, consider to be a classic among films created in the past 150 years.

I mean, Pat Morita was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the original Karate Kid. Let’s not have Jackie Chan try to repeat that performance. Let’s see if the news continues to improve as character names are changed, and the name Miyagi doesn’t appear in the film.

-via Obsessed with Film

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If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you know that I despise the Karate Kid remake and I am excited at the potential for Ghostbusters 3. But when it comes to this film series, I only loved the first one. The second one was okay. I thought it was good, but not great. The third one, a straight to home video film that I can barely remember… let’s just say it’s good that they’re doing a new film instead of just trying to do a NeverEnding Story 4.

One of the original film’s producers is on board to produce the new one, along side Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy.

I just hope that they keep the original theme song. At the very least. It’s a song that captured the adventure and the mystery of the story.

I’m pretty excited to see a spectacular looking Falcor, though. I think that it could become a much better film, in the long run.

It was also based on a German book, which the movie only covered about half of. I only was able to get through a little more than half of the book when I tried to read it. I had just read Tolkien, and the writing in this one was nothing compared to Tolkien. It was insanely boring in parts, and that was sad to me.

However, I’m willing to give this remake a shot. I hope that it goes well, and I look forward to seeing it.

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• January 13, 2009 -- Klonoa Remake coming to Wii this year
• November 14, 2008 -- The Karate Kid Remake with Jaden Smith? No Thanks!

For those of you that don’t know, Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith is in the leading role of Daniel Larusso.  However, the name will likely be changed as Larusso was Italian. The character has also been dropped from high school to middle school, making any amount of story from the original movie nil.  An article at Variety said that it “will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.”

But that’s not all. The film has a director attached: Harald Zwart. The director of Agent Cody Banks.

The fact that they’re doing this movie is a travesty. That they’re calling it The Karate Kid at all is wrong.

It’s not at all what a new Karate Kid movie should be.

The best thing that could happen for the film would be to have Ralph Macchio play the role of Daniel Larusso again, and have him in the role of teacher, with Jaden Smith as the new Karate Kid.

They could call it The Karate Kid Part V. Or Part IV, because The Next Karate Kid doesn’t really count. Seriously. Two Words: Bowling monks.

But alas, contracts are either signed, or being signed, and the film will be produced. The one thing that could happen, which I think should happen, is a name change. It happens often in film making. Call it The Kung Fu Kid. Call it The Tae Kwon Do Kid. Call it anything but The Karate Kid.

It’ll never be the same, and can never be. The music just isn’t going to be good enough.

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Old games being remade for the Wii have tended to be games that were released on other, non-Nintendo, consoles. They also have a tendency to be great games that the developer believes can find a new audience, and perhaps to breathe new life into a property.
This was true for NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. Though not a remake, it was a sequel to a Sega game that was more than 10 years old. It left me hoping for more. Either NiGHTS 3, or a re-release of NiGHTS Into Dreams.

Klonoa is one of those mystery properties. I’m hoping to learn about what makes this game so great in the future. Hopefully lightning strikes twice, and I’ll find this to be as great a game as I found NiGHTS to be.

Anyone played it?

“Klonoa’s return marks an exciting re-boot of this beloved franchise with old-school gameplay, spectacular graphics and an instantly recognizable character,” said Todd Thorson, director of marketing and public relations for NAMCO BANDAI Games America. “Klonoa’s time-tested gameplay and intricate level design make for an awesome experience on Wii.”

Help Klonoa save Phantomile, a land formed by the dreams of its inhabitants, and recently besieged by an unknown evil. Klonoa’s breathtaking journey takes him through a series of increasingly difficult stages across multiple kingdoms as he strives to save his friends and homeland. Throughout his quest, Klonoa is aided by his friend Hewpoe, a benevolent spirit who resides in the ring from which Klonoa is able to fire his Wind Bullet. The Wind Bullet gives Klonoa the ability to grab and inflate his enemies and use them to his advantage.

With a simple move of the Wii Remote Klonoa can throw captured enemies to break obstacles, uncover hidden items or defeat other enemies. Klonoa can also use any enemy he is holding to perform a double jump which allows him to reach high ledges or jump across large pits. By moving the Nunchuk, Klonoa can use his whirlwind to slowdown approaching enemies. In addition to the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls, Klonoa offers a wide range of control options for any style of play, including Wii Remote only, Classic Controller and the Nintendo GameCube.

For more information on Klonoa, please visit: http://www.namcobandaigames.com.

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To truly understand the problem that this has caused, we have to understand the history of The Karate Kid. It’s a film that I grew up on, and more important, it’s a film that AMERICA grew up on. America learned how to be a man from life lessons by Mr. Miyagi. Who hasn’t heard the phrase “Wax on, wax off?” Where else did we learn how to paint the fence, and defend ourselves, in the same night? When else can we move from one side of the country and learn Karate by doing chores from a man who has exiled himself from his home country of Okinawa?

It’s certainly not from whomever is going to try to imitate Pat Morita’s iconic Mr. Miyagi. It’s certainly not from a younger version of the story. No, this is more in the vein of The 3 Ninjas than TMNT.

The Karate Kid has it all. It’s got a guy in high school, dealing with a new town, making new friends, and a girl that happens to be the ex-girlfriend of his new-archnemesis. It’s also got a martial arts expert.

The new faux-Karate Kid? Middle-school. Will there be a middle-school girl? Will there be a clique that all goes to a crooked teacher that teaches false Martial Arts?

Who knows and who cares. It’s not set within the correct age group. It’s just not realistic.

Now, I’m not one to pre-judge a movie unless I am well educated about the content of the film, and I am not falting them for wanting to remake this amazing movie for a new generation. Call it Kung-Fu Kid, call it Karate Kid: The Next Generation, anything but The Karate Kid. Let’s not try and replace the original film with something new and flashy.

America deserves better than this. America thought better than “The Next Karate Kid” and they should think better than this film.

Related Posts

• March 30, 2009 -- The Kung Fu Kid – The Karate Kid Remake: Renamed?
• January 15, 2009 -- More Karate Kid Remake News: Jackie Chan as Miyagi? Again, No Thanks!
• April 14, 2004 -- The Karate Kid
• May 26, 2009 -- Disney Remaking Flight of the Navigator!
• February 26, 2009 -- The NeverEnding Story Remake: My Thoughts