Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: karate kid

  • Sony Finds New ‘Karate Kid’ in Ben Wang

    Sony Finds New ‘Karate Kid’ in Ben Wang

    Sony has found the new Karate Kid. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on Monday that Ben Wang will star in the newest Karate Kid film. Wang, who is coming off of American Born Chinese, will join Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio in the film.

    Wang’s casting comes after Sony held a global search, which reportedly saw over 10,000 video submissions within the first 24 hours after it was announced. Wang’s audition is said to have “demonstrated a deep connection to the character.” The studio also loved that Wang is fluent in Mandarin and is highly skilled in various forms of martial arts. Sony is keeping details regarding the film quiet for now, however, the film will see the franchise head to the East coast and focus on a teen from China.

    If you’ve been following us here for some time, this shouldn’t be surprising. We here are Murphy’s Multiverse first revealed Sony’s plans to revisit the Karate Kid franchise on the big screen in 2022. In our report, we noted that the actor will need to be fluent in Mandarin, we also revealed the film will see the character move from Beijing to Brooklyn.

    The film is currently slated to hit theaters on December 13th, 2024.

    Source: THR

  • Karate Here: Sony Finally Moves Forward with Long-Gestating ‘Karate Kid’ Film

    Karate Here: Sony Finally Moves Forward with Long-Gestating ‘Karate Kid’ Film

    After a year-long delay that included a pair of strikes that greatly impacted all facets of production in Hollywood, Sony is moving forward with their new Karate Kid film. Murphy’s Multiverse first broke the news of Sony developing the film with Rob Lieber on board to write.

    According to THR’s Borys Kit, the new film–which he described as “positioning as the fusing and continuing the mythology of the original franchise,“–will team original Karate Kid Daniel Russo and Cobra Kai star Ralph Macchio with Jackie Chan, who played Mr. Han in 2010’s The Karate Kid, and will be directed by Jonathan Entwistle.

    As we first reported, the film will feature a Chinese teen lead, referred to as “Li”, who relocates to Brooklyn from Beijing with his mother.

    Li is said to be struggling with a past tragedy, which drives a wedge between him and his doctor mom, who has managed to handle the same tragedy in her own way. After Li meets Mia, a student from his high school, and her father, Victor, at a local pizza restaurant, he’ll soon find his life has changed yet again – for the better. Li soon finds himself training Victor in the art of Kung Fu, despite his mother’s stance against violence and fighting, and ultimately back in the ring himself.

    From our original exclusive, August 2022

    In the first 24 hours after the film was announced, an open casting call for the lead role received over 10,000 submissions.

    Sony hopes to begin production on the new film next Spring with Sony currently hoping it’s ready for theaters on December 13th, 2024.

    Source: THR

  • Sony Pushes Back its Fall Slate Instead of Paying Writers and Actors Fairly

    Sony Pushes Back its Fall Slate Instead of Paying Writers and Actors Fairly

    It seems like Sony is the first to cave. Hollywood is currently going through one of its most significant strikes as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have decided to strike as no fair deal was made by any of the studios to make their life actually livable. Now, the trend continues as instead of coming back to the table to discuss the industry’s future, it seems Sony has decided to push back the major releases of their fall schedule.

    The big push comes with Kraven the Hunter, which has now shifted to a release on August 30th of 2024, which was initially set to release this October. It seems they were mostly banking on Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s press tour to push the film; uncertain if that would actually help their next Spider-Man spinoff without the webhead’s involvement. Surprisingly, Madame Web is getting released two days earlier on Valentine’s Day of 2024.

    That’s not all, as the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel has also been pushed further back to March 29th of 2024. It initially was going to have a Christmas release and had the lesser push even with the hope to wait it out until Paul Rudd is able to promote the project once the strike ends. They also postponed the Karate Kid reboot that was going to release in June next year to a December release.

    There are also some films that have now ended up in limbo. Blumhouse’s They Listen lost its August release date from next year. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse has lost its March release, which was hinted at when reports pointed to a troubled production (even if the released film is quite a visual feast). Though, they surprisingly gave Venom 3 a release date, as it stopped production during the strike, as the film is slated for July 12th while Bad Boys 4 will release on June 14th. Gran Turismo is still set for its August release.

    Source: Variety

  • CONFIRMED: Sony Moving Ahead With a New ‘Karate Kid’ Movie

    CONFIRMED: Sony Moving Ahead With a New ‘Karate Kid’ Movie

    Back in August, we exclusively revealed that Sony Pictures was moving ahead with a new Karate Kid movie. Now, the studio has officially announced a release date for the untitled Karate Kid movie, which is being called a return to the original franchise. Per the outlet, the new Karate Kid movie will hit theaters on June 7th, 2024. While no further details were made available, it’s expected that the kid will serve as the teacher in this new installment.

    From what we could gather, the new film will center on a teenage boy named Li. The young student is said to be small for his age, but tough, smart and scrappy. Li is said to be a skilled fighter and a student in Beijing who finds his life uprooted after his mother moves them to Brooklyn, New York. After meeting Mia, a student from his high school, and her father, Victor, at a local pizza restaurant, he’ll soon find his life has changed yet again – for the better.

    It’s interesting to see how The Karate Kid has become a franchise of its own over the years. Netflix has seen a lot of success with the spinoff series Cobra Kai which further explored the characters from the original films by taking a closer look at where they are all these years later. This isn’t even the first remake of the film as Jaden Smith had the leading role opposite Jackie Chan back in 2010, which didn’t pick up as much momentum as the original did.

    With Cobra Kai going into its sixth season, it remains to be seen whether or not that series will tie back into the new Karate Kid film. However, with a release date set, perhaps we’ll soon learn more about the newest installment.

    Source: Deadline.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Sony Moving Ahead with New ‘Karate Kid’ Film

    EXCLUSIVE: Sony Moving Ahead with New ‘Karate Kid’ Film

    Sony is looking to move ahead on a new Karate Kid film.

    We here at Murphy’s Multiverse can exclusively reveal that Sony is looking to cast a teen lead for a new Karate Kid film. Sony is looking for a 17-year-old male, Chinese actor who speaks both Mandarin and English. The character is referred to as Li and is said to be small for his age, but tough, smart and scrappy. He is said to be a skilled fighter and a student in Beijing who finds his life uprooted after his mother moves them to Brooklyn, New York.

    Li is said to be struggling with a past tragedy, which drives a wedge between him and his doctor mom, who has managed to handle the same tragedy in her own way. After Li meets Mia, a student from his high school, and her father, Victor, at a local pizza restaurant, he’ll soon find his life has changed yet again – for the better. Li soon finds himself training Victor in the art of Kung Fu, despite his mother’s stance against violence and fighting, and ultimately back in the ring himself.

    The film does not yet have a director attached, but Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit) is attached to pen the script. A start date has also yet to be revealed for the film’s production.

    News of a new Karate Kid film comes after it was revealed back in December 2021 that Sony Pictures TV renewed its contract with Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. The deal is said to run for four years and allows for the expansion of the Cobra Kai and Karate Kid franchises. This new film looks to be its own entity separate from that deal as it is a feature film.