TMC
06-02-2025, 08:25 PM
LANGUAGE WARNING
qdNpJhAJnXo
The Karate Kid has to be one of the most unexpectedly massive franchises of all time. In 1984, John G. Avildsen’s The Karate Kid was a modestly budgeted underdog story (in the Rocky mode) featuring two unknown leads, Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. At the time, Macchio was mainly known for playing the doomed Johnny in The Outsiders, while Morita was known as the wacky Arnold from Happy Days. The $8 million movie would gross $100 million in 1984, and the sequel, The Karate Kid - Part II - would make even more, grossing $115 million and giving us the Peter Cetera classic (to some) “The Glory of Love.”
The franchise would die, for a while, when The Karate Kid - Part III flopped with a measly $38 million gross, while The Next Karate Kid would fare even worse. For the longest time, it looked like the franchise was dead, especially when Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan starred in a well-received reboot. It seemed like people had forgotten Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi until William Zabka, who played the first movie’s antagonist, Johnny Lawrence, started pursuing the idea of a sequel. It began with a music video Zabka directed called “Sweep the Leg,” and it led to the series Cobra Kai, which kickstarted the idea of the Miyagi-verse, and stands as perhaps the best example of a “requel” (reboot/sequel) that we’ve ever gotten.
qdNpJhAJnXo
The Karate Kid has to be one of the most unexpectedly massive franchises of all time. In 1984, John G. Avildsen’s The Karate Kid was a modestly budgeted underdog story (in the Rocky mode) featuring two unknown leads, Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. At the time, Macchio was mainly known for playing the doomed Johnny in The Outsiders, while Morita was known as the wacky Arnold from Happy Days. The $8 million movie would gross $100 million in 1984, and the sequel, The Karate Kid - Part II - would make even more, grossing $115 million and giving us the Peter Cetera classic (to some) “The Glory of Love.”
The franchise would die, for a while, when The Karate Kid - Part III flopped with a measly $38 million gross, while The Next Karate Kid would fare even worse. For the longest time, it looked like the franchise was dead, especially when Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan starred in a well-received reboot. It seemed like people had forgotten Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi until William Zabka, who played the first movie’s antagonist, Johnny Lawrence, started pursuing the idea of a sequel. It began with a music video Zabka directed called “Sweep the Leg,” and it led to the series Cobra Kai, which kickstarted the idea of the Miyagi-verse, and stands as perhaps the best example of a “requel” (reboot/sequel) that we’ve ever gotten.