The Karate Kid 2025 - Cast, Director And More Info

Out of all the successful shared universes to come about over the years, the "Karate Kid" franchise might be the most surprising. Also known as the Miyagi-Verse and named in honor of the martial arts maestro Mr. Miyagi (played by the late, great Noriyuki "Pat" Morita), the property kicked off in 1984 with director John G. Avildsen's "The Karate Kid," a rousing sports drama cut from the same cloth as the filmmaker's Best Picture Oscar-winning "Rocky," albeit focused on martial arts rather than boxing. But besides establishing "Wax on, wax off" as a fixture of our pop cultural lexicon, the film also birthed two sequel films, a spinoff film, a reboot film, a live-action legacy sequel show, and even a short-lived, non-canonical '80s cartoon series.

For a long time, however, it was assumed the 2010 "Karate Kid" reboot and the 1984 original existed in different continuities. But no more! Just as the popular "Cobra Kai" series has seen Miyagai's apprentice Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his former rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) join forces against their shared enemies, Sony's as-yet-untitled 2025 "Karate Kid" film will bring Daniel and Jackie Chan's Miyagi-esque Mr. Han from the 2010 "Karate Kid" together for an all-new adventure to commemorate the franchise's 40-year anniversary. Looks like it's time to start boning up on your crane kick!

Despite the major Hollywood studios' repeated attempts to sweep the legs of the actors' and writers' guilds, both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA have emerged victorious in their fight for fair and equitable treatment. As such, after being delayed by the guilds' dual strikes, "Cobra Kai" began filming its sixth and final season in the early part of 2024, keeping it on track to potentially arrive before the new "Karate Kid" film reaches theaters on May 30, 2025. 

Bear in mind: The movie was originally slated to premiere on June 7, 2024, before being pushed back in the wake of the strikes, so there's little indication there will be too much in the way of direct crossover between the pair (Macchio appearing as Daniel aside). That and with the "It's All Connected" shared universe approach seemingly fading in popularity, Sony probably won't want anyone thinking "Cobra Kai" is mandatory viewing to understand this new film.

Both the original "Karate Kid" and the 2010 reboot were major hits in their day, with the latter grossing over $350 million on a $40 million budget. Combine audience nostalgia, Macchio's return to the limelight with "Cobra Kai," and Chan's enduring international appeal, and it's no mystery why Sony signed off on a film that will bring the disparate corners of the Miyagi-Verse together to celebrate the property officially hitting middle-age.

Don't count on any multiversal hijinks, though. For as much as "Cobra Kai" has evolved into a live-action anime-style martial arts soap opera over the course of its run, it's always kept its feet planted in the real world, just like the previous "Karate Kid" films. That will remain the case with this new movie, which focuses on a teen from China who's struggling upon relocating to the U.S. East Coast, only to find their balance with the aid of a crusty martial arts teacher (or maybe two, by the sound of it). A troubled youth gets an assist from a tough, wizened mentor? That's about as "Karate Kid"-y as martial arts stories come!

No longer that good-natured, if hot-headed, teenager from New Jersey who clashed with the locals in his new Californian home, "Cobra Kai" has seen Macchio's Daniel LaRusso mature into a Miyagi-ish figure himself, complete with his own set of strengths and flaws. Of course, that also means he and Chan's Mr. Han (a hardened but caring kung-fu expert turned maintenance man haunted by his past) will need a feisty whipper-snapper of their own to instruct in the ways of the martial arts. Hence, Macchio and Chan have jointly announced a global casting search to find the young lead of the latest "Karate Kid" film.

Beyond that, Sony has yet to announce any additional cast members for the 2025 "Karate Kid" film. Naturally, with a whole shared universe of characters to draw from, there's a real chance other "Cobra Kai" actors will turn up for a scene or two, if not something more substantial. As for the "Karate Kid" reboot star Jaden Smith? Although he's largely moved away from acting in recent years, Chan's involvement could open the door for him to appear in some capacity (or, if not that, then at least a reference to his character's off-screen fate).

Though "Karate Kid" films are never outright gritty, they tend to have a harder edge than other family-friendly films thanks to all the martial arts violence and characters wrestling with their personal demons. That being the case, the latest addition to the franchise seems to have found the perfect director in Jonathan Entwistle, the creator of the acclaimed dark tween dramedy series "The End of the F***ing World" and co-creator of the similarly well-received "I Am Not Okay With This" (the Netflix series in which Sophia Lillis plays a queer teenager whose existence is made all the more complicated by her inconvenient telekinetic powers).

With teenage angst and darkness being his specialties, Entwistle is well-suited to deliver a "Karate Kid" continuation that feels appropriately moody for 2025. What's more, between that and the promising-looking "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," that year is shaping up to be an unexpectedly fruitful one for '80s Sony franchise films that bring something genuinely fresh and different to the table.

Scripting duties on the latest "Karate Kid" film are being handled by Rob Lieber, a writer who's carved out a niche for himself writing family movies like "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween," and "Peter Rabbit." Of the three, "Haunted Halloween" might be the closest thing he's penned to a "Karate Kid" movie so far with respect to tone (that is, something that has a sense of stakes both emotional and physical, like Avildsen's original martial arts teen drama classic).

Also joining Entwistle and Lieber behind the camera is producer Karen Rosenfelt, another creative with some real bona fides when it comes to teen-driven storytelling (having previously worked on films like "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" and "The New Mutants," as well as the hit streaming series "The Summer I Turned Pretty"). Most notably of all, Rosenfelt was one of the first executives to recognize the Twilight Saga's potential and went on to receive producer credit on all five "Twilight" films.

Or, as Mr. Miyagi once put it, "[Woman] who catch [stupid lightning] with chopstick, accomplish anything."