How Two Scenes In ‘Karate Kid: Legends' Could Set Up A Sequel

Forbes

3 days ago

Ming Na Wen, Wyatt Oleff, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Jackie Chan and Sadie Stanley in ... More "Karate Kid: Legends."
The Karate Kid movie saga continues Friday with Karate Kid: Legends, starring Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan and Ben Wang. The film leaves the door open for a sequel if the franchise chooses to go that route, but how?
New in theaters on Friday, Karate Kid: Legends begins with a flashback to a previous Karate Kid movie that serves as a primer for Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and Chan's Mr. Han paths to cross in a sensible way. After all, Macchio and Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita's version of The Karate Kid was released in 1984 and was followed by three sequels, while Chan starred in what effectively amounted to a reboot of the original in 2010 opposite Jaden Smith.
In 2018, The Karate Kid franchise made a comeback with two seasons of Cobra Kai on the now-defunct YouTube Red channel before it was acquired by Netflix, which in turn produced four more seasons that came to a conclusion earlier this year.
As Karate Kid: Legends proves, however, Macchio's time in the Karate Kid Universe is not quite over yet. The film introduces a new Karate Kid named Li Fong (Ben Wang), who moves with his doctor mother (Ming-Na Wen) from Beijing to New York City to work at a hospital and to give her and her son a fresh start after a family tragedy.
Not long after Li and his mother settle into their new place, he befriends Mia Lapani (Sadie Stanley) and her pizza parlor owner father Victor (Joshua Jackson). Li's friendship with Mia, however, leads to a violent encounter with her ex-boyfriend, Conor (Aramis Knight), a local karate champ who uses his skills to bully Li.
To help confront a tragedy from the past and make a bid to earn money for Victor's struggling business, Li enters the famed 5 Boroughs Karate Tournament, where he'll inevitably need to face off against Conor.
If Li is to have any chance of winning, though, he'll need to enlist the help of his old sensei from Beijing, Mr. Han, who in turn recruits the help of Daniel in California.
Note: The next section of this story includes spoilers for 'Karate Kid: Legends.'
Since The Karate Kid solidified itself as an enduring franchise with its successful six-season run of Cobra Kai, the studio behind the film and series, Sony Pictures Entertainment, is clearly looking for a way to keep the franchise alive and Karate Kid: Legends marks their first bid to do so.
Wisely, the studio is keeping the story in the same universe by involving both Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan's Mr. Han while starting a new story with Ben Wang's Li Fong. The air of familiarity goes a long way in establishing a new story and avoiding a wash, rinse and repeat cycle involving any stories or other characters from The Karate Kid movies and Cobra Kai.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Karate Kid: Legends leaves the door wide open in a couple of different ways at its conclusion for another Karate Kid movie should Sony wish to pursue it.
First of all, Li Fong faces off against Conor in the 5 Boroughs Karate Tournament championship match and — not surprisingly — wins. While Conor appears to accept the defeat with relative grace (he hesitantly shakes Li's hand), it's not a stretch to believe that a rematch is on his mind, which would be an easy way to ease into a sequel.
Conor, after all, trains with a hard-hitting Cobra Kai-like dojo named Demolition with an edgy John Kreese-like sensei named O'Shea (Tim Rozon), even though O'Shea barely has a presence in comparison to Martin Kove's Kreese in the Karate Kid movies and Cobra Kai. That lack of presence really doesn't matter, though, since dirty dojos like Cobra Kai and Demolition don't accept defeat too easily.
The other scene that allows room for a sequel comes in a scene that plays out at the beginning of the end credits, where we find Victor's pizza parlor is not only solvent — but has a second location — thanks to Li's winnings. The film ends with Victor traveling from New York City to California to deliver a pizza to Daniel.
When Daniel opens the box, he sees a photo of Li Fong's victory celebration at the 5 Boroughs Karate Tournament and a note written on the inner flap of the box from Mr. Han that reads, 'If you ever need help, you know where to find me.'
While Mr. Han's cleverly delivered message doesn't have the sort of cliffhanger feel most end credits scenes have, it certainly can be construed as an invitation for Macchio to participate in another Karate Kid film if Sony decides to go that route.
In a red carpet interview at the red carpet premiere of Karate Kid: Legends this week, The Hollywood Reporter asked Macchio if he was game for more and his answer was encouraging.
'We'll see. As long as it's honest, genuine and truthful to the base of this character and these characters, I'll always be open to listen because I like that the next generation can experience the joy of what we've been through,' Macchio told THR. 'In a world that's not always joyful, it's really cool to bring some of that.'
The end credits scene is also made distinct by a cameo appearance from a familiar face, which won't be spoiled here. The scene is more of a nod to the original Karate Kid movies and a Cobra Kai series, though, than it is a teaser of a potential sequel.
Of course, the first thing that needs to happen before Sony starts thinking about a sequel is for Karate Kid: Legends to be financially successful.
If Karate Kid: Legends' box office projections from Deadline (which projects a $25 million to $30 million opening weekend from 3,809 theaters domestically) and Variety (which forecasts a $25 million bow), are any indication, the film should get a good start in its first three-day frame.
Also benefitting the film is its production budget of $45 million before prints and advertising, per Variety, a modest enough cost for any major studio to invest in any film, much less a sequel to a film that earned money.
Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, Karate Kid: Legends, which is rated PG-13, opens in theaters in wide release on Friday.