Yankees vs. Red Sox. Duke vs. North Carolina. Daniel LaRusso vs. Johnny Lawrence.
Published 1:43 PM EDT May 1, 2018
All are storied sports rivalries, though it’s that last matchup that speaks to those who grew up with the coming-of-age martial-arts film The Karate Kid as their generation's Rocky. Now, 34 years later, the 10-episode, half-hour streaming dramedy Cobra Kai rekindles the feud between now middle-aged rivals Johnny (William Zabka) and Daniel (Ralph Macchio) while also introducing a new gang of bullied youngsters in need of a proper sensei. (The first two episodes debut free Wednesday on subscription streaming service YouTube Red, with the rest available for a $9.99 monthly fee.) “We’re a little more crusty and wrinkly, but we still have that (old) energy,” says Macchio, 56. Karate Kid crane-kicked its way into audiences' hearts in 1984, but the finals of the All Valley Karate Tournament are still being felt by its principals. Johnny hasn't been the same since his loss to underdog Daniel: Now, he's a struggling handyman who drinks too much and is estranged from his son (Tanner Buchanan), while Daniel's a successful car salesman trading on his fame as a local sports hero. Not all is the same as it used to be, though. Johnny saves his teen neighbor Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) from mean classmates — which echoes Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) rescuing Daniel back in the day — then starts training the kid as part of his revamped Cobra Kai dojo. (The three main tenets remain “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy.”) More: 'Karate Kid' foes, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, to battle in 'Cobra Kai' series Cobra Kai's return unnerves Daniel to his core. The bruises have healed, but not the memories of getting beaten up by Johnny and his friends, and he vows to shut Johnny down while also reconnecting with his karate love. Macchio approaches 'Daniel-san' just as he did years ago, blending what he considers his natural New York bravado with a “short-tempered, knee-jerk' stubbornness that the actor admits he lacks. “If I got my ass kicked the first time at the beach, I’m not so sure I would have come back. But then again, it’s a much better story if you have a feisty guy who’s not willing to back down.” Yet Zabka says grown-up Johnny is almost a different character than his love-to-hate Karate Kid bad boy. He embraced the aspects of Johnny he connected with in the original movie, where “at his core he has good intentions but he’s just been trained wrong.” But having the way of Cobra Kai back in Johnny's life — the aggressive, win-no-matter-the-cost approach that made him a villain in the first place — is a Pandora’s box . “He’s playing with fire in a way, but he’s doing his best to not go in that direction (while) giving these kids all he knows,” says Zabka, who at 52 is the same age Morita was when he played Miyagi in the film. There's a 'soulful magic' to Karate Kid, Macchio says, and lines such as “Wax on, wax off” and “Sweep the leg” have helped make the movie so iconic. But what makes it a special part of Americana — preserved in the new show — is that 'it's a story about a boy who needs a mentor, needs a father, and he’s got all the odds against him,' Zabka adds. 'Everybody wants a Miyagi in their life, a magical man who has the secrets and leads you on a path that you don’t know.”
Published 1:43 PM EDT May 1, 2018
This Week: Karate Kid 2 lands a director; Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to reunite in a new movie; Jeremy Irvine will star in Stonewall; Matt Damon eyes The Martian; the Game of Thrones showrunners peg their next project; and Chloe Moretz joins The 5th Wave. - Sony Pictures has hired Breck Eisner to direct returning stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid 2. Eisner is probably best known for delivering the 2010 horror film The Crazies starring Timothy Olyphant. Not exactly a 1-to-1 comparison between that film and The Karate Kid, but apparently Sony thinks Eisner is a good fit to helm their sequel.
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Since the first Karate Kid hit back in (coincidentally) 2010, Sony has been trying to get a sequel off the ground, first with two Kung Fu Panda screenwriters and then with Incredible Hulk writer Zak Penn, but things hadn't evolved much beyond that. Now, Sony is seemingly looking to get the project back on track and rolling. Source: Deadline - Golden Globe co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will star as sisters in The Nest. While Poehler is still in final negotiations, it seems almost a done deal given Fey's involvement. The two have been nigh inseparable since their early SNL days and even starred in the film Baby Mama together.
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Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore will helm The Nest, which follows two sisters' weekend reunion in their childhood home. Sounds like the perfect set-up for the two comedians. - Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) has signed on to star in Stonewall for director Roland Emmerich. The Karate Kid 2 DanceAlthough Emmerich is mostly known for bombastic epics overwrought with CGI destruction, Stonewall sounds like a more intimate piece for the director. The film centers on the 1969 police raid of a bar in Greenwich Village that was said to be a noted gathering place for gays and transgender individuals. Irvine will play a character whose political aspirations were incited by the raid.
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Emmerich is hoping to shoot Stonewall soon, in between preparing Independence Day 2 for its summer 2016 release date of course. With a potential underwater adventure in the works, and now Stonewall, it appears Emmerich is setting up a new system where he alternates between big budget blockbusters and passion projects. Source: Deadline - While director Drew Goddard officially exits The Martian, Matt Damon considers signing on to star. Although Fox was very interested in having the up-and-coming Goddard direct their adaptation, they saw the writing on the wall. Goddard has both the Sinister Six film and Netflix's Daredevil series in various stages of production, and so it seemed unlikely he would get to The Martian anytime soon.
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As this was going on, though, Matt Damon reportedly became very interested in the project, which follows an astronaut stranded on Mars. However, sources report that Damon likely won't commit to the film until Fox finds a replacement for Goddard. Source: The Wrap - Game of Thrones show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have selected Dirty White Boys as their next project. While the two have kept plenty busy juggling the seven kingdoms of Westeros, they are hoping to adapt the Stephen Hunter novel at some point. The novel follows three escaped convicts and the lawman that is hot on their heels.
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It's still early, but Deadline reports that Weiss and Benioff will write, produce, and direct the film. Still, Game of Thrones comes first, and with the series just recently renewed for seasons 5 and 6 it's possible the project might spend some time in development. Source: Deadline - How tall is valentino mapapalangi. Hit Girl herself, Chloe Moretz, is likely to headline The 5th Wave, an upcoming YA adaptation from Sony. Based on the book by Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave follows Cassie, a 16-year-old girl who has survived four prior attacks ('waves') on Earth. However, while Cassie is trying to save her brother she discovers a mysterious man (love interest?) who may be Earth's last hope.
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Given Moretz's resume it's surprising she hadn't joined a YA adaptation sooner, but The 5th Wave is apparently the one to snag her. J Blakeson will direct the film off a script from Susannah Grant. Source: The Wrap
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