L-R: Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio in 1984’s “The Karate Kid”; Courtesy Columbia Pictures/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Get ready to wax on, wax off, sand floor and paint fence again — The Karate Kid‘s coming back.
Ralph Macchio will reprise his role as Daniel LaRusso in Cobra Kai, a comedy series coming to YouTube Red, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The series will take place in the present day, and will follow LaRusso as he attempts to get on with his life without his longtime mentor, karate sensei Mr. Miyagi.
Also returning from the 1984 original is William Zabka, aka Cobra Kai bully Johnny Lawrence, who tries to pick up the pieces of his own disappointing life by re-opening the infamous dojo that Mr. Miyagi and Daniel-san humiliated back in the day. Lawrence is the character Daniel defeated in the climactic karate tournament in the original film. Re-opening the Cobra Kai reignites the teenage rivalry between the two.
Will Smith’s production company, Overbrook Entertainment, will produce the series, with Macchio and Lawrence co-executive-producing. Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, starred opposite Jackie Chan in a 2010 The Karate Kid theatrical remake, which was the fourth sequel in the Karate Kid series.
Pat Morita, who played Kensuke Miyagi in the first four movies, died in 2005.
Cobra Kai is slated to debut next year.
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