Late last week, Sony pictures announced that they will be producing a new Karate Kid movie for the big screen. They gave a release date in the summer of 2024, but did not give any other information as to what the storyline or characters would be. Most fans assumed that the movie would most likely tie in with Cobra Kai, as the show is the main reason for the resurgence of fans, but it turns out that may not be true.
The show’s co-creator Jon Hurwitz was recently asked on Twitter about the film, and he responded:
“The guys and I would love to make Karate Kid and Cobra Kai movies and hope to someday. But this one isn’t from us or focused on the Cobra Kai cast. Don’t know much about it, but wish it well. #KarateKid #CobraKai”
As of now, there are no stars or directors attached to the film, and Hurwitz is not involved in the project. But this leaves fans to wonder why they would be making a Karate Kid movie that is not surrounding the extremely popular Cobra Kai franchise that took the original Karate Kid characters and followed them into their current lives, weaving in new characters as well as old ones from the original trilogy. The show is so good, and it would be fun to see the creators get to make a movie out of what they have made. But I guess Sony is just capitalizing on the popularity of the franchise and is maybe just doing a remake? This was done already in 2010 with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, and while that movie wasn’t bad, fans as a whole didn’t care about it. So I don’t know why a remake now would be any different.
But luckily we are going to get at least another season of Cobra Kai, and we will see what the creators have in store after that. Seasons 1-5 of Cobra Kai are available now on Netflix.