Cobra Kai’s success on streaming makes the jump to cinemas a no-brainer, however, even one of the show’s creators was baffled by recent reports that Sony Pictures is working on a newKarate Kidmovie.
At least this was the official reply fromCobra Kaishowrunner Jon Hurwitz, who took toTwitterto address the news while responding to a fan’s question on the matter as he celebrated his show currently sitting atop Netflix’s streaming charts for over a week now. Co-creators Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg have yet to comment on this topic, although Hurwitz’s statement leaves no room for doubt that ifaKarate Kidmovie is in the works, it has nothing to do with the currentCobra Kaiuniverse they’ve put together.
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The reveal of aKarate Kidproject was dropped alongside a couple of delays from Sony related to two oftheirSpider-Manspinoffs(Madame WebandKraven the Hunter). However, no real details about casting, setting, or plot were given at the time. Still, the press release does clarify that the movie is meant to be a “return of the originalKarate Kidfranchise," meaning a continuation of the 2010The Karate Kidstoryline starring Jaden Smith would be out of contention.
Even if still very polite and positive, Hurwitz’s tweet reads quite clearly: whatever Sony is set to work on is not the product of theCobra Kaiproduction team, nor does it involve the characters that have made the series so popular, which does raise a few questions on what the studio has in store. Despite initially premiering on the defunct YouTube Red and now calling Netflix its home, Sony Pictures Television is the distributor for allCobra Kaiphysical media. At the same time, Will Smith’s production company, Overbrook Entertainment, owns the rights toThe Karate Kid, which is why the actor has executive producer credits overCobra Kai.
When Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg came up with the ideas forCobra Kai, they had to get approval from the aforementioned parties, though no one will argue that their brainchild ended up being far more successful than the 2010 remake. What most fans will find puzzling is that Sony could opt to make something new out ofThe Karate Kidwithout the very people that have brought the franchiseback into the spotlight thanks toCobra Kai.
As if that wasn’t enough,Cobra Kaihas already made use of practically every old character from the first three films, with onlyHilary Swank’sThe Next Karate Kidremaining untouched.
