Pop Culture | Movies | 80s

'The Karate Kid' Is Coming Back With A New Series, And Daniel-san Will Be In It

Columbia Pictures

The Karate Kid was one of the movies that defined 80s and 90s teen action movies. It introduced the world to Daniel-san and his wise old teacher, Mr. Miyagi, who taught him to stand up to bullies and defend the weak through karate.

Columbia Pictures

The original movie was a massive success, making back over ten times its budget at the box office. People loved it so much that it went on to spawn two direct sequels, a side-sequel called The Next Karate Kid, and even a remake in 2010 starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan!

Columbia Pictures

While the late Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi, had an established career when starting the series, it did launch the career of Daniel-san himself, Ralph Macchio. He played the character in all three movies, and would go on to have sporadic roles throughout the years, most notably a recurring role on TV's Ugly Betty.

Twitter

While Macchio's always spoken fondly of his time as Daniel, it never really seemed like the franchise was going to end up anywhere as the years went on, especially considering the fact that the 2010 remake didn't do well financially.

Columbia Pictures

Well it looks like that might change, because Macchio just announced that he'll be returning to the franchise in a new Youtube Red series!

Click to the next page for full info on the new return to the world of The Karate Kid.

Both Macchio and William Zabka, who played Daniel's bully Johnny Lawrence in the original movie, are slated to return for Cobra Kai, a 10-episode series on Youtube Red!

Columbia Pictures

The series will take place 30 years after the third movie, and focus where both characters have ended up in their adulthood. Johnny is down on his luck and decides to re-open the Cobra Kai gym he was so dedicated to, while Danny is struggling without the guidance of Mr. Miyagi.

Columbia Pictures

The show is being scripted by Hot Tub Time Machine writer Josh Heald, along with Harold & Kumar writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who will direct most of the episodes.

Collider

The three gave a public statement about the project, saying;

“Like everyone who grew up in the 1980s, the three of us are enormous fans of The Karate Kid. ‘Cobra Kai’ will be a true continuation of the original films — packed with comedy, heart and thrilling fight scenes. We can’t wait to reignite the LaRusso-Lawrence rivalry, and we’re thankful to our partners at YouTube Red, Sony Pictures Television and Overbrook for their shared enthusiasm in making our dream project a reality.”

Columbia Pictures

What do you think? Are you excited for the return of Daniel and Johnny? Let us know in the Facebook comments!

More Throwbacks

Movies

Macaulay Culkin Clears Up Some Confusion About The 'Home Alone' Recreation

When that amazing new Google Assistant ad dropped yesterday starring Macaulay Culkin recreating all of the iconic scenes from the 1990 classic Home Alone, People absolutely lost their minds. But here's the thing, you watch it once and you're like, "Oh wow, that's hilarious!" But if you watch it a second time, you'll see that they really went all out to recreate it shot for shot. Honestly, it's almost creepy how well they did. Whether he's jumping on the bed:20th Century Fox / YouTube - GoogleUsing his aftershave:20th Century Fox / YouTube - GoogleTrimming the tree:20th Century Fox / YouTube

Movies

Macaulay Culkin Is Back As Kevin From 'Home Alone' And It's Actually Amazing

It's Christmas time, and you know what that means! It's time to watch a family abandon their son in their home and not even call anyone to go take care of him while he fends off burglars and makes an enormous mess of their house! That's right, every year we all gather around the TV and watch Home Alone for the millionth time, enjoying the hilarious antics that young Kevin McCallister gets into. Macaulay Culkin's portrayal of the character is what made the movie work, well, that and the fact that the 'Wet Bandits' were pretty funny. Culkin made a

Movies

A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The New Aladdin Is Here And At Least One Of Our Wishes Was Granted

We've been waiting patiently, okay mostly patiently, since Disney announced that Aladdin was being remade. The cartoon remains one of the most iconic movies of all time, and the fact that they were going to try and bring it to life with real humans instead of the animated versions was kind of concerning. We saw the first trailer a while ago, but the only character we actually saw up close was Aladdin himself. We didn't see how the Genie looked, or Jasmine, or any of the other characters. But now, Entertainment Weekly has given us all the first look at

Movies

The First Look Of The New Sonic Movie Is Here And People Just Spilled Their Rings

We've seen these video game movies come and we've seen them go, but how often have they actually succeeded? Not a lot, right? Well, whether it's the best idea or not, the powers that be have decided to bring one of the most iconic video game characters to the big screen once again. Sonic the Hedgehog has his very own movie coming out next November with Ben Schwartz voicing him, but now that the first poster is here, everyone is talking. Now, the thing is, the poster that everyone has seen isn't even a real look at the design. It's

Movies

'Mrs. Doubtfire' Cast Reunited To Discuss The 25th Anniversary And Robin Williams

The cast of Mrs. Doubtfire reunited and we were all so excited to see what that meant. Now we finally know why they were back together again. With nothing really happening for the last month, we kind of just thought it was maybe a nice dinner. But nope! It turns out it was actually a big interview to discuss the anniversary, the legacy, and of course Robin Williams. The interview is a good 35 minutes of reminiscing and sharing memories that all make us remember the iconic comedy as the treasure it truly is. Pierce Brosnan, Matthew Lawrence, Lisa Jakub,

Movies

Tim Allen Reveals The Original Plan For 'The Santa Clause' Was Way Too Dark For Disney

We've all seen The Santa Clause at least a dozen times, right? It's a Christmas classic and ever since it was released, it has become a staple in our holiday movie schedule. There's something about the movie that manages to keep that Christmas feeling without being way too over the top or corny. I mean, sure, Tim Allen literally becomes Santa, but somehow it all feels like that's totally plausible. The sequels may not have the same realistic feeling, but the original remains iconic. However, Allen just revealed that the original plan for the movie was a lot darker than