Today, Moviehole was able to uncover solid information about that Karate Kid remake starring Jaden Smith (produced by his daddy, Will Smith). First of all, it seems that the film is not going to be called "The Kung Fu Kid," as rumors from a month ago had started to perceive. The title for the project is currently still The Karate Kid. I guess "Killer of Childhood Dreams" isn't snappy enough. Bitter remarks aside, it is worth discussing the new plot as it seems to update its original source with as many modern elements as possible. However, for those who want to be "surprised" by the film when it is released in a year, I will warn you that there are going to be SPOILERS of some sort here.
Daniel, the character originally played by Ralph Maccio, is now named Dre (played by Jaden Smith). Dre is a "skateboarding video game enthusiast" whose mother, Sherry is struggling to keep her job. When Sherry is given the option of transferring to an office in China, she takes the opportunity to continue employment and brings her son in tow.
The two get to China and experience an expected fish-out-of-water culture shock, and struggle to learn the language. Dre starts going to school, but soon gets picked on by bullies (especially one named Lui Wei Cheng). He leaves school each day with bruises and feelings of regret for having left the states.
Things turn in a more positive direction when Dre is spotted doing martial arts kicks for a video game (which I assume will be Wii-like) by his apartment's maintenance man, Mr. Han (a.k.a Mr. Miyagi). Eventually Mr. Han agrees to teach Dre martial arts and also the language of Chinese (so he can impress his mother by haggling for apples, apparently).
A character named Li Quan Ha is the aggressive/abusive owner of the Fighting Dragon School of Kung-Fu, and is very similar to the character John Creese, originally played by Martin Kove. Of course, Dre visits the school and is immediately turned off by his first visit.
It's possible that this "remake" could very well stand on its own as a single movie about a young kid learning karate. But its lazy cribbing has me thinking that someone (no names will be mentioned - yet) might be deserving of a swift crane kick to the face.
Source: Moviehole.net