This week, The JoBlo Movie Podcast spoke with Ralph Macchio while he was out promoting his new independent feature, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE UNDEAD (trailer here.) We eventually got around to discussing the much talked about Karate Kid “remake/reimagining” starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan and here’s a few snippets of what His Macchioness had to say:
The Macchio didn’t have any conversations about the new Karate Kid outside of talking to Will Smith and Jaden. He said Will was cool and just wanted his blessing and respect for continuing with the project. Though he was quick to point out, “not that he wouldn’t have went on with the project anyway.” He believes it to be a “reimaging” as opposed to a remake since they casted younger and changed the setting. Because the original is such a part of pop culture history, Macchio thinks starting anew is the best way to go. He doesn’t have a cameo in the film and had no desire to. He says even if there was a reason to see Daniel Larusso at 40, he feels that would rob people of their youth by squeezing in a cameo, since it wouldn’t be a natural progression of the story. He still gets “stay gold”, “wax on/wax off” and “Crane Kicks” thrown at him on the street. The Macchio says it was a perfect time and place for the original Karate Kid to come out, but because it has such a good story, he thinks a good movie (the upcoming “reimaging”) can come out of it.
To listen to the rest of the interview, you can download the latest episode of The JoBlo Movie Podcast here or you can listen live on the page.
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