Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan to star in new ‘The Karate Kid’ film

Big news: Macchio, 62, and Chan, 69, broke the announcement in a video uploaded by Sony to social media on Tuesday, with the former proclaiming, “We’re starring in a new ‘Karate Kid’ movie together.”

The next star: After announcing the team-up, Chan adds that they are “looking for the next Karate Kid,” with Macchio agreeing, “That’s right — the global search for the star of our new film starts right now.”

The studio is looking for a Chinese or mixed-race Chinese actor between 15 and 17 years old to play Li Fong, who will be the next “Karate Kid,” according to Sony’s casting call post. The post describes the character as someone who is smart, scrappy, skilled in martial arts and fluent in English.

Their roles: Macchio played the first Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso, in the original trilogy in 1984, 1986 and 1989. He has reprised the role in the Netflix series “Cobra Kai.”

Meanwhile, Chan played Mr. Han in the 2010 “The Karate Kid,” opposite Jaden Smith’s Dre Parker, the student and titular kid. Mr. Han is based on Daniel’s mentor and martial arts teacher, Mr. Miyagi, played by the late Pat Morita.

Details to note: It is unclear if William Zabka, who played antagonist Johnny Lawrence in the first two movies, will also appear in the 2024 movie. Zabka, 58, is currently leading the “Cobra Kai” series.

While plot details are still kept under wraps, the movie is expected to premiere on Dec. 13, 2024.

How people reacted: Many fans of the franchise welcomed Chan and Macchio’s announcement with delight, with one YouTube user even stating that their life “is officially complete” after knowing that the two stars will appear in the same “The Karate Kid” movie.

“This just came out of nowhere and I’m all in for it,” one fan on YouTube commented, while another fan wrote, “The movie we didn’t know we needed right now.”