Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio Unite to Train a New Young Fighter in Upcoming Karate Kid and Cobra Kai Crossover, "Karate Kid Legends" - Watch the Trailer!

To be honest, for many years, the Karate Kid film franchise was considered a relic of ‘80s cinema — something you fondly remembered but never gave much thought to. That changed in 2010 with a Jackie Chan-led revival, which earned moderate success, grossing over 350 million dollars globally. However, the Karate Kid saga truly exploded with the release of Cobra Kai, a spin-off TV series that became a cultural phenomenon, reintroducing beloved characters like Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) roughly thirty years after the events of the original film. Netflix released the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai earlier this year (with the final five episodes set to debut in February). As the show concluded, Sony Pictures announced a new chapter for the film franchise. Enter Karate Kid: Legends, a film that bridges the quasi-2010 remake and the Cobra Kai series, bringing Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio together for an epic journey blending the arts of Kung Fu and Karate.

This time, karate sensei Daniel LaRusso (Macchio's beloved character from the original film series and Cobra Kai) will finally meet kung fu teacher Mr. Han (again played by Chan) as they join forces to train a young kung fu prodigy, Li Fong (played by Ben Wang, from Disney's American Born Chinese). The young man finds himself entering a fierce karate competition in Beijing, where he must merge the fighting styles of his two masters: the kung fu techniques taught by Mr. Han and the karate teachings of Daniel-San, mastered under his own beloved mentor, the legendary Mr. Miyagi.

Karate Kid: Legends also stars Ming-Na Wen, Joshua Jackson, and Sadie Stanley. The film was written by Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween).

Acclaimed television director Jonathan Entwistle directed the upcoming movie. Entwistle is known for helming episodes of Apple’s recent retro sci-fi series Hello Tomorrow! He also directed a majority of episodes of the acclaimed darkly comic British teen series The End of the F***ing World, streaming on Netflix. However, Entwistle came on our radar with the short-lived Netflix series I Am Not Okay with This. It only ran for one short season, but, in our humble opinion, had great potential to become a breakout hit for Netflix if it had run more than one seven-episode season. Based on Charles Forsman’s comic book, Entwistle created the series with Christy Hall. He also directed the entire season.

Karate Kid: Legends is currently slated to open in theaters on May 30, 2025. Watch the first official trailer, posted above.