The Karate Kid remake has been Zabka’d.
In a statement issued by his publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, Will Smith angrily dismissed rumors that he was intending to revamp the 1984 non-classic with his nine-year-old son, Jayden, in the lead role (and Jackie Chan as the Bonsai-tree trimming, adolescent boy ass-kicking Mr. Miyagi). "He’s certainly not," said Schaeffer. "I don’t know where that came from."
Perhaps it came from fact, Ms. Schaeffer. And perhaps it ain’t as true as it was, say, yesterday on account of a couple of fellas named Martin Kove and Thomas Ian Griffith paying Mr. Smith a visit and beating the shit out of him in front of his caterwauling, MTV Award-winning kid. Does that have a ring of truth to it, Ms. Schaeffer? No? Really? Well, I didn’t start that rumor either, so don’t get all froggy with me.
On the 100% factual side of things, Schaeffer did confirm Smith’s involvement in Michael Mann’s Empire, though she added nothing to the perfunctory premise (it’s still about a media baron), and did not mention a potential start date. It certainly doesn’t sound like it’ll be happening anytime soon: after completing Peter Berg’s Hancock, Smith will re-team with his Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino for Seven Pounds, and then move on to the family comedy Time Share with Nicolas Cage.