After making over $350 million worldwide back in 2010 Columbia hired Kung Fu Panda writers Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff to get started on a sequel to The Karate Kid. Little has been heard since, but now according to Variety Zak Penn has been hired for rewrites which suggests the sequel is still moving forward.

Penn is credited as writing Elektra, X-Men: The Last Stand and The Incredible Hulk, and most recently worked on a Dirty Dozen remake.

While Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan aren’t signed for the sequel they are expected to return. Will Smith will return as producer. No word on the involvement of director Harald Zwart, although given the critical and commercial success of The Karate Kid one would expect him to be considered again.

In 2010 Zwart said he would like to see the next film explore an all-new story rather than follow in the footsteps of the two sequels from the 80s. “I personally think it’s now so much on its own two feet, given the success, that it would be interesting to see where we could take it without ever thinking about the old ones.”

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Though the first installment never fully captured this guy‘s attention, Kung Fu Panda 2 actually had me yearning for more. When taking that feeling into account, the only true disappointment to note here is that the flick barely runs 90 minutes.  Every animated-action engagement felt climatic from the get-go. The landscape this adventure was placed upon will give audiences an eye-gasm.

With all that praise being said, there isn’t a ton of laughter that will be flying out of one’s mouth. Chalk this up to a personal preference, but there should be multiple laugh-out-loud moments when looking at the make-up of this product. First off, it’s an obese Panda that does Kung Fu. And Jack Black is voicing this man-child. That combination alone should induce a lot more than a soft-smile. In reality, it doesn’t; but this is something the viewer will not dwell on after this story wisps through the screen.

Using a different type of animation within the modern 3D CGI, a back-story is projected to the audience regarding an evil Peacock in Lord Shen (voiced by Gary Oldman). Shen was banished from the great kingdom by his parents, stemming from the horrors he committed against a race of Pandas, based on a foretold prophecy that he will meet his demise from a “black & white” warrior. After he received the boot, he took his army of wolves and vowed to return and rule China.  And the bird lived up to his words. Shen has created a weapon that can counter-act any Kung Fu style. Unleashing this new found fire power (remember it’s ancient China), he begins to destroy all the cities until there are no longer any threats to his reign of terror.

Of course, Po (voiced by Jack Black) and the Furious Five are not just going to sit back and let this happen. So he, Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie), Mantis (voiced by Seth Rogen), Monkey (voiced by Jackie Chan), Crane (voiced by David Cross) and Viper (voiced by Lucy Liu) travel from the Valley of Peace and battle Shen across rivers, towns and a great fortress. During these exciting battles (that will have people clamoring for the videogame), Po discovers that Shen holds the key to unlocking where he truly came from.

The story is pretty fundamental and obvious (this product is aimed at the kiddies after all), but the execution and environments on-hand create a worthy cinematic experience. Every area Po and his fighting companions explored in this tale brings a sense of wonderment for all ages to engage in.

For those that are just getting introduced to the Kung Fu Panda crew, think of this piece as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ story – with Po representing the immature Michelangelo – being fused with an epic storytelling pattern found in any notable fantasy/adventure flick. The script and the characters are playful and vibrant, and there’s enough moments where the right amount of heart and substance enter in. Seeing young Po as a baby in the recurring hand-drawn animated flashback moments is easily the cutest thing seen on screen this year. (And that’s coming from a wannabe rock star who patterns a portion of his life after Steven Tyler).

When the story does get serious – or even mildly dire at times – the writers are quick to lighten up the mood through the dialogue. Stealing the show in the dialogue department is Gary Oldman as Shen.  The evil, sarcastic Peacock had the perfect balance of being comical one minute and insanely cruel the next.  Oldman found the right amusing tone in his voicing of this arrogant and bitter bird.

So there’s not a ton of laughs, or more specifically, not a ton of NEW laughs on display in this light-hearted piece.  The choreography of a few scenes are set-up to get the younger people giggling.  In the end though, it’s the splendid animation and warm-touching moments that will keep one fully attentive to this adventure.

Overall, Kung Fu Panda 2 trumps the first one and will be pleasing to all audiences. That’s all a sequel of this caliber can ask for. Go in peace…And do not feel guilty about splurging on the 3D.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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Paramount has released a new full trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom. This trailer features new scenes, new gags and finally gets round to explaining the story.

Watch below:

The sequel sees the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu?

Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and James Hong have once again provided their voices, as have newcomers Victor Garber, Michelle Yeoh, Gary Oldman, James Woods and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom will be released May 26th.

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Paramount has released the Super Bowl TV spot for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom. Releasing these things early kills the anticipation somewhat, but trailers are made to be seen so they might as well.

Watch below

The sequel sees the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu?

Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and James Hong have once again provided their voices, as have newcomers Victor Garber, Michelle Yeoh, Gary Oldman, James Woods and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom will be released May 2011.

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DreamWorks has released a new TV spot for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom. It only lasts 16 seconds, but it’s worth a watch as it contains new footage and promises “Awesomeness”.

The sequel sees the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu?

Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and James Hong have once again provided their voices, as have newcomers Victor Garber, Michelle Yeoh, Gary Oldman, James Woods and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom will be released May 2011.

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DreamWorks has released a teaser trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom, the sequel to DreamWorks’ most successful non-Shrek film Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and James Hong have once again provided their voices, as have newcomers Victor Garber, Michelle Yeoh, Gary Oldman, James Woods and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Watch the teaser below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LaYnU0AIWU

The sequel sees the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu?

For those wondering, Gary Oldman will be voicing a peacock and Jean-Claude Van Damme will be voicing a crocodile. I’m in.

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom will be released May 2011.

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Update: Amazon has made The Karate Kid available to pre-order:

- DVD
- Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced that The Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 5th.

As well as receiving positive reviews the remake also managed to gross nearly $200 million worldwide on a budget of just $40 million. The Karate Kid is well and truly in the green now so strong DVD and Blu-ray sales should guarantee a sequel.

The Blu-ray special features include:

• ON LOCATION: The Karate Kid Interactive Map of China
• Alternate Ending
• Play All Hosted by Jackie Chan
• Production Diaries Hosted by Jackie Chan
• Chinese Lessons – Learn Chinese!
• Music Video: Justin Bieber Featuring Jaden Smith “Never Say Never”
• Just for Kicks: The Making of The Karate Kid
• movieIQ+sync(TM)
• PS3 Wallpaper Theme

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Following a $56 million opening weekend for The Karate Kid (it doubled The A-Team‘s $25.7 million) Columbia Pictures are meeting with writers to pitch their ideas on where to take the sequel.

The Karate Kid, which has also been getting positive reviews, only cost $40 million to make so it wouldn’t have taken much to makes its money back, but to make it back in such a way during it’s opening weekend makes it one of the first box office surprises of 2010.

MTV caught up with director Harald Zwart who commented on the film’s success, and said he was interested in directing the sequel if Sony want him back (I can’t imagine why not):

“It far exceeded my expectations,” director Harald Zwart told MTV News of the film’s success. “I’m from Scandinavia and we are in no habit of letting our dreams get the better half of us. We keep our feet on the ground and wait until we see the reality, and this time it just really exceeded what I had hoped for. It was just amazing!”

With “The Karate Kid” having established itself as a box office hit, there’s already talk of a possible sequel. Zwart said that while another installment has been discussed, he and his team have only loosely tossed around the idea up until now — so as to avoid jinxing anything.

“Every now and then we discussed it,” he said. “But the truth is, when you see Jackie and Jaden, they’re like a really good film couple. On and off camera, I was watching how they were pulling practical jokes on each other and throwing rocks in the lake, and you just want to keep looking at them because they have a great dynamic and great humor. We have just been playing with a few different ideas, but we haven’t landed on anything at the moment.”

Zwart, speaking only for himself he said, would like to see another “Karate Kid” film explore an all-new story rather than follow in the cinematic footsteps of the ’84 flick’s two sequels. “I personally think it’s now so much on its own two feet, given the success, that it would be interesting to see where we could take it without ever thinking about the old ones.”

Will Smith took a break from making movies to produce his son’s first big screen outing, and it seems to have paid off. Will recently signed up for Men in Black 3 so he won’t be able to give the sequel 100% of his attention, but I’m sure he’ll be heavily involved again.

Did you see The Karate Kid this weekend? Where do you want them to go with the sequel?

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Columbia has released another trailer for The Karate Kid remake starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. It’s similar to the first trailer (i.e. one big training montage), but it doesn’t look that bad. The original Karate Kid movies aren’t embedded in my childhood so I’m not as against the remake as some may be. I guess it’s up those people to decide whether this looks worthy or not.

The Karate Kid, which will be released in June, is directed by Harald Zwart (Agent Cody Banks) and produced by Will Smith.

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When it was announced that The Karate Kid was going to be remade there were quite a few people over the age of 30 who weren’t keen on the idea. I haven’t seen the original film(s) in years so I didn’t really have a feeling one way or the other.

Will Smith was one of the main reasons the film went ahead as he wanted it to be a star vehicle for his son, Jaden. If I were Will I’d probably use my power and influence to help my family too, but is Jaden actually the right guy for the role? Or did he get the role purely for being Will Smith’s son?

I began watching the trailer as a sceptic, but I can’t deny Jaden has the ‘moves’.

What do you think of the trailer? Has your childhood officially been raped? Or are you actually looking forward to this?

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