It’s been nearly four years since the rumblings of a sequel to the remake of The Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan began, and we just assumed that Sony Pictures had decided to bail on continuing the story.
Sony Pictures has locked Breck Eisner to direct Karate Kid 2, the sequel that will bring back Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Harald Zwart directed the 2010 original, which grossed $56 million on its opening weekend and ended with $343 million worldwide.
Eisner previously directed the horror remake The Crazies and Matthew McConaughey’s Sahara and had been attached to a number of other projects, including a remake of The Creature From the Black Lagoon (which he dropped out of in 2009) and Vin Diesel‘s The Last Witch Hunter, which may be looking for another director if Sony wants to move forward quickly with The Karate Kid 2.
No word on where the screenplay is at for the sequel nor when they might start production or release the movie, although having a director in place should definitely get the project moving forward.
What will the story of The Karate Kid 2 be? Will it find Jackie mentoring Jaden through a Karate tournament in America? Or could they travel to Brazil or Israel and learn Capoeira or Krav-Maga?
source: deadline.com, comingsoon.net
According Deadline, Sony execs are currently meeting with writers to hear pitches for the second film’s story. This information comes from sources embedded deep within the agency so more than likely it’s legit. Plus, the financial outcome of the film’s debut was like blood in water. When studio’s get one ounce of success they want to find ways to get more and that usually means a sequel.
There’s no word on whether or not any of the actors were signed on for multiple films, so they might have to go back in to renegotiate their deals.