Jaden Smith To Star In "Karate Kid" Remake

Will Smith's kids have been following in his footsteps, appearing in films and working red carpets, and now younger son Jaden is starring in a movie being made just for him: a remake of "Karate Kid."
Variety reports:

Columbia Pictures is back in the dojo with a new version of the 1984 hit "The Karate Kid," which has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith.

The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment's James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz. Will Smith, who is the 10-year-old actor's father, co-starred alongside Jaden in his feature debut, "The Pursuit of Happyness," which Overbrook and Escape Artists produced for Columbia.

The script is being written by Chris Murphy, and the film will shoot next year in Beijing and other cities. While the new film will be set in that exotic locale, 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.

China Film Group Corp. will co-produce in China.

The younger Smith, who next stars in "The Day the Earth Stood Still," is a martial arts practitioner.

Smith has three children: son Trey for a first marriage and daughter Willow and Jaden with wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Jaden, who turned 10 in July, wore his sunglasses at night this summer at premiere for "Kit Kittredge" and at "Hancock."

With sister Willow at "Hancock":

Comments

[gd7277467]

2013

Welcome to Celebrity Rehab !

Our new guest tonight is Jaden Smith !

[davibaby]

quit hating!!!

[ImpalaSuperSport]

Can't Hollywood come up with an original idea anymore?

[MyVesta]

Should be just another Smith yawnfest complete with the requisite Oprah fanfare. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[davibaby]

quit hating!!!

[walleymr]

awh, it must be so nice to have a dad that can buy you a career

and with a remake!

why didn't he just remake fresh prince for his kid?

or, better yet, maybe he can remake that movie where will played a gay prostitute, but spent the entire time filming it having to play gay ...

[davibaby]

quit hating!!!

[johnnygoodwud]

that kid thinks he's way cooler than he is. i'm tried of smith and his kids. overexposed

[chronic]

Thank you for saying that. I feel the same way!!

[davibaby]

quit hating!!! both of you!
don't hate, congratulate.

[WRPrintz]

At least Will is concerned enough about his kids to get them a job...and a well paying one at that.

Remember folks, acting is where you are being paid to lie. Not lead the country. Not discover a cure for cancer. You are paid to lie, and lie well. Take this all with a grain of salt...it's just movies....

[Hemkit]

Since when does a 10 yr old need a job? We're not in China for crying out loud. And we've seen what "just movies" can do to young "stars."

[synthfiend]

I want to give this movie a chance but I can't. What was the last American martial arts film that I can think of that featured kids in the starring roles? The Three Ninjas. This movie will make a ton of money and stink on ice.

[ColetteG]

come on, people.
Nobody has seen that movie yet, it is not even filmed yet, and the majority has decided it will be a bad movie. why is that?
And also, why the outrage around Will Smith paving the way for his son? It is not the first time it happens, it is pretty common, and not much different than any other father helping his child to any other type of business. Actually the boy had to audition for the "pursuit of happiness", so i've heard. And he did a pretty good job acting. So why not? What if he is talented, and his family already in the business. Why not go for it? This happens everywhere, all the time. no big deal.

[TurtleGuy]

I can't honestly think of a single remake that was better than the original. Movies are products of their time. We should not be re-shooting them because now the computer graphics, etc make things look better. How many King Kong remakes are honestly needed? Latest Peter Jackson one I thought was awful. Yeah, it looked pretty and all with the special effects, but the special effects of the original were groundbreaking for their time. Nothing groundbreaking was done to do Jackson's remake, so what exactly was the point of it? Other than looking to get paid.

[westphilly726]

Pursuit of Happyness was a good movie and Jayden was good in it but why does the kid have to be famous too.He had to audition but do you really believe Will would have done the movie without his son being in it?I like Will and I'm from Philly also but his head is getting big.Why does his children have to be in his movies?Willow was in I am Legend.Will and Jada first became annoying when they named the children after themselves.What egomaniacs!!I guess its not enough to be rich and famous.He'll regret this when they're on Celebrity Rehab with an older Dr. Drew.

[Dannydel]

Can you spell R-E-H-A-B? Will Smith has a serious case of Tom Cruise disease. "LOOK at ME! look at my fabulous KIDS! I mean, look at the attitude on the child, with the ridiculous oversize shades and the slump. This kid is headed for a fall. And Will Smith is going to regret the day he turned from nice guy to narcissist. He and his wife could do with a few parenting lessons.

[chronic]

Yes Yes Yes! I saw them at an appearence where Will was making a speech and that kids attitude is rediculous. He thinks he's an adult and the world loves him.


It was sickening to watch.

[NOBamaCant08]

No wonder Jaden Smith is in it.......his dad is the producer and director! Now this is an even bigger pile of junk. Why do we let Will Smith make movies? Is it because "I am Legend", "Hancock", "Hitch", and "I, Robot" were such great films?! OF COURSE NOT, THEY WERE HORRIBLE!!!!! So, since this guy hasn't made a decent film within the last few years, maybe he has run his course, and it's time to move onto something else......like not making movies for the sake of seeing your children on screen.

AND SETTING IT IN CHINA NEGATES THE TITLE OF THE FILM! Should be called "The Kung Fu Child" , or "Will Smith's Kid learned how to Kick"

[Steve41313]

The Karate Kid is a classic! This film will be total crap.

[meleon]

I love Will and Jada, but that son of theirs is one of the most pretenious, irritating, big for his britches kids ever. I don't fault him or his parents for that because 1. he's a kid, and 2. I've seen Will & Jada in action, and they don't take any crap from Willow, Tre or Jaden. It's simply about the perfect storm created from the personality he was born with combined with his awareness of the power he has by vurtue of being the kid of powerful parents. He's like 10 going on 30, and although I think he's one of the smartest, self aware, and really a good kid, and a good who will never grow up being a do nothing HW brat, he's still a kid you want to scream "you are a kid!"

I'm very disappointed that they chose a classic like KK to screw with. Some flicks should be off limits, and KK1 and even 2 are on that list for me. Very disappointed indeed.

[beautifulday78]

KUDOS to you... That boy of theirs is so obnoxious, smug and unlikeable just based on his body language and mannerisms. He's definitely missing his dad's good-natured, likable personality. Did anyone see the family on Oprah promoting Will's new movie? He behaved as if Oprah was wasting his time--eye rolling, the big inhale and a sigh...someone needs to send that kid to the naughty chair or perhaps start 'rehearsing' for his big part by 'waxing on and waxing off' the family's 10 vehicles.

[chronic]

Exactly!!

[moosetacos]

The entire family is smug.

[wakeup804]

Ummmm, if your daddy was pulling in 20 million a film, you might be a little smug as well. Give them a break, Will and Jada have intelligent, thinking children. They do very good job as parents. I guess the Obama girls will be smug next because they have intelligent progressive parents. These children are like all of my friends kids, confident, educated, intelligent and fortunate. This is what we look like when you don't see us on the 11 news.

[chronic]

Get real!

[DocManhattan]

OK, this is just wrong ... The kid was supposed to be about 15, as were the other kids that bullied him. A 10-year-old kid can practise karate, sure, but it's not 'til the age of 15 or 16 that their bone structure toughens up and it starts to get serious.

Secondly -- China?!?! WTF?!?! Is this karate or kung fu? I mean, those old movies were kind of ridiculous in retrospect, but there were a lot of real karate traditions and techniques in there, and at least the writers knew that it all comes from Okinawa. Please, God, why can't people stop confusing China with Japan?

I don't suppose I should care that much, but I liked those old movies at the time and I studied karate for something like 20 years, so I have a lot of affection for both, and it looks like these guys are getting ready to take a crap on another of my fond youthful memories.

[LiberalBuzz]

WOW, with all the kids out there who are a hundred times more talented, and more in need of work, a gazillionaire decides that his kids, who are also benefitting from that that wealth deserve the work more.

Will you're just coming across as a jerk now. Your kids don't deserve it and I'd be willing to be neither of them really could give a rat's butt about working, they're just waiting till they get old enough to start acting like the privileged rich brats they are.

How about actually getting work for kids who deserve it.

Want to see how badly the Smith kids live and need the work?

http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/31415/view/?service=1