Sony Pictures has just released a new trailer for the next part of the ever-evolving Karate Kid franchise, Karate Kid: Legends. Check it out on YouTube or right here:
The movie appears to be somewhere between a sequel and a soft-reboot of 2010’s The Karate Kid, with Jackie Chan reprising his role as Mr. Han, only this time he’s mentoring a young Chinese man who has just moved to America rather than a young American who had recently moved to China. It also looks to be fully tying these characters into the Karate Kid mythos by introducing Ralph Macchio, returning as Daniel LaRusso, to help teach Ben Wang’s Li Fong how to fuse his kung fu skills with Daniel-san’s Miyagi-style Karate.
With the screen icons like Macchio and Jackie Chan returning, and a fresh writing and directing team with fewer than ten projects under their belt put together, Sony appears to be interested in taking this classic franchise in new directions. We’ll have to see where these directions take us when the film comes out later this year!
Karate Kid: Legends is set to release exclusively in theatres on May 30. Read on for more information:
Karate Kid: Legends unites the iconic martial arts masters of one of the most beloved film franchises of all time to tell a completely new story full of action and heart. When kung fu prodigy Li Fong (Ben Wang) relocates to New York City with his mother to attend a prestigious new school, he finds solace in a new friendship with a classmate and her father. But his newfound peace is short-lived after he attracts unwanted attention from a formidable local karate champion. Driven by a desire to defend himself, Li embarks on a journey to enter the ultimate karate competition. Guided by the wisdom of his kung fu teacher, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), and the legendary Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), Li merges their unique styles to prepare for an epic martial arts showdown.
