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It
appears that Tinseltown titan Will Smith is trying to forge a
box-office dynasty and domination the likes of which Hollywood
hasn’t seen in over a generation. Will Smith’s younger son,
Jaden, is set to star in the new millennium remake of the 80s
blockbuster franchise, Karate Kid, a Columbia Picture that father Will is going to produce.
This will be the second time Will and Jaden Smith have collaborated in
a major motion picture. They were the feature characters in the
critically-acclaimed, award-nominated blockbuster, The Pursuit of Happyness,
also a Columbia vehicle. Karate Kid will be produced by Jerry
Weintraub, who launched the original, three-picture series that
catapulted star Ralph Macchio into stardom a quarter-century ago.
Father Smith, James Lassister and Ken Stovitz will also produce the
film. Chris Murphy will write the script and filming is set to begin
next year in Beijing. But while the filming will take place in an
exotic locale, it will mirror the original film’s fruitful
premise in which a young boy [Jaden] learns karate from a local mentor
to repel the bullying tactics of his classmates.
Jaden, 10, is the youngest son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. Both
parents have enjoyed monster movie hits this year. Will starred as an
unapologetic anti-hero with superpowers in Hancock that grossed $228 million domestically. Pinkett Smith gave voice to the happy hippo in the animated remake, Madagascar: Escape to Africa,
that roared to the top of the box office to the tune of $63.5 million,
the fifth-highest November opening in U.S. history. – terry shropshire
