There’s a new kid on the block.
The “Karate Kid” franchise has a new installment — “Karate Kid: Legends.”
“Who doesn’t know Daniel LaRusso?” director Jonathan Entwistle exclusively told The Post, referring to the original “Karate Kid” Ralph Macchio’s character.
“One of the most indelible cultural concepts in the world is Mr. Miyagi and wax on, wax off. There are very few people over 30 who don’t know that,” he went on. “So it was fascinating to see not just the cast but the crew. They were very reverential and very respectful to these two people,” he said of Macchio and Jackie Chan, who co-stars.
Premiering May 30, “Karate Kid: Legends” follows a new character, teen Li Fong (Ben Wang), who has trained in Kung Fu with revered martial arts master Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). When his mom moves him from China to New York, he befriends local Pizzeria owner Victor (Joshua Jackson) and crushes on Victor’s teen daughter, Mia (Sadie Stanley).
The “kid” isn’t the only one fighting, as Li initially trains Victor on how to fight. But, when Li finds himself in a karate tournament, facing off against Mia’s aggressive ex-boyfriend Connor (Aramis Knight), Mr. Han comes to help and entreats original “Karate Kid” LaRusso (Macchio) to help train Li.
“He comes in and he’s like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do this,’” Entwistle recalled of when Chan, 71, came to set the first day for a fight scene. “We roll, and he immediately dislocates his shoulder. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh my God!’ and Jackie’s like, ‘No, it’s nothing!’ He puts it right back in, just carries on, like ‘Here we go.’”
He added, “That kept happening throughout the shoot.”
The fights were choreographed, but Chan often had his own ideas for what to do.
“His ability to direct the stunts and direct the stunt team and the stunt actors was just incredible to watch,” Entwistle admired.
Another actor who was surprisingly competent at fighting was the “Dawson’s Creek” alum, 46.
“Josh Jackson, when he arrived for his boxing sequence, Josh saw how amazing all the martial arts pieces were for this movie, and he watched the kids training. He was like, ‘No, no no, I’m gonna do this myself too,’” Entwistle recalled to The Post.
“They were like, ‘Are you sure?’ And he was like, ‘Let’s go.’ He put on the gloves. He had no stunt double.”
“He shot that entire sequence himself, taking every punch,” he continued. “We knew that Josh could box. He’d boxed at a reasonably high level through his life. He was in great shape at the time, and he got in even better shape for the role. And so, when he worked with the choreographers, they felt comfortable that he could do it himself.”
During another fight scene in an alleyway, Entwistle “wanted the fight sequences to feel really heightened and really kind of in-your-face, in-camera action.” The scuffle included Li, Victor, and some evil henchmen.
“Large pieces of that set were turned into soft foam versions,” he explained.
“There are soft trash cans, soft dumpsters, soft walls, soft corners, soft windows – so that we could really throw the actors into all of these things. People could fall backward, and we could build a set to match the choreography.”
Although Li lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the movie was filmed in a variety of locations, including Montreal and Los Angeles. But, they still shot some scenes in New York.
“One of the things that we were able to do, which is something that you don’t get to do often, is close down and get out early into Times Square and Columbus Circle,” Entwistle explained, adding that they filmed at about 5 a.m., so no New Yorkers were around to heckle them. “The police gave us a very specific window with which we could go there.”
The Big Apple scene included Li and Mia riding a scooter.
“I wanted it to feel like ‘movie New York.’ So it was like the Lower East Side is a five-minute walk from Central Park, and Queens is just around the corner,” he explained.
“It’s that comic book feel, like Peter Parker’s New York. That’s what I wanted it to feel like.”
“Karate Kid: Legends” hits theaters on Friday, May 30.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
