It seems to be Karate Kid day out there as yet another piece of casting news for the upcoming sequel has been announced. Variety has reported that Ming-Na Wen (The Mandalorian) has joined the cast of the new Karate Kid movie.
While there are no details on who Ming-Na Wen will play in the Karate Kid movie, the actress is always a welcome addition to any project. The new Karate Kid movie will star Ben Wang (American Born Chinese) as a young teenager from China who finds identity and strength in martial arts. During his journey of self-discovery, Wang’s character meets a disciplined martial arts master. The coming-of-age drama will also find Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprising their roles of Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso. Joshua Jackson (Fatal Attraction) is also set to appear in the movie. It was announced earlier today that Sadie Stanley (Cruel Summer) had signed on as the movie’s romantic lead.
Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World) is set to direct the movie, which has been scripted by Rob Lieber (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day). It’s exciting to think of the Karate Kid series back on the big screen, especially as it will bring together the original franchise and the 2010 remake with the involvement of Macchio and Chan.
Ming-Na Wen has played bounty hunter Fennec Shand across multiple Star Wars projects, including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch. She has also lent her voice to a variety of animated shows over the past year, including Velma, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, and Blue Eye Samurai.
The new Karate Kid movie has already been slated for a December 13th release, but it’s not the only upcoming project in the franchise. The sixth and final season of Cobra Kai kicked off production earlier this year, and while there’s no official release date yet, Netflix did include the final season in their sizzle reel of 2024 projects. If that pans out, we’ll spend a lot of time in the dojo later this year, which sounds fine.