It’s been a big day in the world of impending kid-oriented kung-fu franchises today!

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First up… Kung-Fu Kid, the remake of The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith! Of course, Jackie Chan will be fulfilling the mentor role, and the two appeared in China this weekend to mark the start of filming. The film is being produced by Columbia Pictures on the American side of things, and the China Film Group (a government production company) across the pacific. It is being directed by Harald Zwart. I’d give you a rundown of what the man has directed, but my eyes started bleeding somewhere between the The Pink Panther 2 and Agent Cody Banks entries of his filmography, so brave it yourself, if you must.

The Associated Press provided these useless fucking details about the kick-off ceremony, held this last weekend:

“Will Smith – one of the film’s producers – Chan, Zwart and others symbolically removed a piece of red cloth covering a movie camera, after which Smith gave Chan a hug, according to video posted on Chinese news Web site Sina.com. His hair done in a huge Afro and wearing a bright red track jacket and blue pants, Jaden Smith stood and waved when he was introduced. His father ruffled his hair when he sat down.

…there are also reports of Jaden blinking a few times, and that food may very well have been consumed.

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Next…. Hong Kong Phooey will be brought to the big screen by Alcon Entertainment.

The script flowed from the pen of David Goodman, producer of both Futurama and Family Guy– a paradox if I’ve ever seen one. At the helm will be Alex Zamm, who is competing with Harald Zwart for the Best-IMDB-Page-I’ve-Read-All-Day Award. Brett Ratner is also mentioned as a producer.

It sounds as though the film will be another live-action/animation hybrid along the lines of Alvin And The Chipmunks. It will, of course, be edgy as fuck…

Source | Associated Press, Variety