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The oft-rumored remake of The Karate Kid is back on track with a writer, producers, and a new star attached. Variety reports that Columbia Pictures has refashioned the 1984 classic as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith. Will Smith will produce with his production company, Overbrook Entertainment. Chris Murphy’s script moves the action to Beijing and elsewhere, but the plot remains basically the same as in the original with a bullied youth taking refuge under the wing of an eccentric older man.

The Karate Kid spawned two sequels throughout the eighties, all starring the eternally youthful Ralph Macchio. The mid-nineties saw the release of The Next Karate Kid, which is remembered as the first film to star Hilary Swank playing a boy. All four films also starred Pat Morita as Mister Miyagi.

Jaden Smith made his film debut alongside his father in The Pursuit of Happyness, and will also be seen in next month’s The Day the Earth Stood Still. Following in his father’s footsteps, Jaden has already pressured the studio to alter the ending to The Karate Kid reboot. **SPOILER** Reportedly, his character notices familiar traits in his mentor before realizing that the wise, old man is indeed himself from forty years in the future. Smith plans for the film to be the first in a karate/time travel trilogy.

What do you think of this news? Do you think of this news? Did you ever wax on or off to Hilary Swank?