Do You Want To Be In The New Karate Kid Movie Starring Jackie Chan & Ralph Macchio?

Are you available between March-June 2024?

There’s a new Karate Kid movie in the works — and it’ll star Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio.

Macchio is set to reprise his role as Daniel LaRusso, whom he played in the 1984 Karate Kid and its two sequels, as well as Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Cobra Kai series.

Chan will return to play Mr Han — a character loosely inspired by Pat Morita’s Mr Miyagi in the original trilogy —  the kung fu master who mentored Jaden Smith in the 2010 remake. (Between that and the trilogy, there was 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, with Hilary Swank in the lead.)

No word on how the separate Karate Kid movies will converge into a shared universe in the new sequel, which will be directed by Jonathan Entwistle, who’s best known as the showrunner of the Netflix teen drama The End of the F***ing World.

But one thing is for certain: the movie needs a new Karate Kid.

Besides announcing the project in a video on YouTube on Tuesday (Nov 22), Chan and Macchio also extended a global invitation to young actors to submit audition tapes to KarateKidCasting.com.

According to the website, the character is Li Fong, a “smart, scrappy and skilled martial artist”.

The producers are looking for an actor to portray “Chinese or Mixed-Race Chinese and between 15-17 years old”. The character speaks fluent English; conversational Mandarin is a strong plus.

It also helps if the actor has a background in martial arts, gymnastics and dance. Those with no acting experience are welcome to try out too. 

The actor must be available between March and June, 2024, which is presumably the shooting period. The new Karate Kid movie is slated to premiere in cinemas on Dec 13, 2024 in the US.

Watch the announcement video here:

Photo: Sony Pictures screengrab