Complete Press Conference The Karate Kid Norway

Assortment - Jackie in Berlin for 'The Karate Kid'

SOURCE: ZIMBIO

SOURCE: MONSTERS AND CRITICS

More very similar photos at I'M NOT OBSESSED

More links to more news/photos HERE

SOURCE: BROADWAYWORLD.COM Go to link for more.

VIDEOS: THE KARATE KID LONDON

Harald Zwart Talks The Karate Kid

Interesting interview:

With The Karate Kid opening number one this weekend Harald Zwart must be feeling pretty good about himself! The innocence and epic nature of the this remake seemed to be no match for the off-the-cuff comedic violence of The A-Team.

Zwart may be known in the US for The Pink Panther 2 and internationally for Long Flat Balls I and II, but he’s yearned for some time to do something less silly and humorous, and something more artistic and dare I say epic. He jumped at the chance to join the Smith family in “retelling” the classic story in a beautiful, new way.

Even before the release of the film, Zwart was confident that his film would be a success with viewers…


How does it feel to go against another classic remake of The A-Team?

Harald Zwart: I’m feeling pretty good. We rely on tracking. We are going to do really well. The reviews have been terrific; everything I have read today. I am just totally confident that when people are in the theater they will have a great experience. Every screening we have had ended with applause and cheering, so I am feeling really good about that.

This film had the possibility of being cheesy, but you managed to avoid that. Was it important to you to develop the story and take your time with it?

HZ: Yes. This film is much more true to my own desire of filmmaking. It is much more of how I really am. When I came across the project, this was my opportunity to show a much more artistic and much more emotional movie, which is something I have always wanted to do. I actually feel the best doing.

When I came into the meeting, I came in with all the artistry that I thought the movie should have. I designed the whole shadow theme on the wall. I built a model of Han’s house so I could demonstrate to the studio how the shadows were going to play on the wall. I did that with a little flashlight.

How was it trying to combine the history of China and the ancient art of Karate with normal teenagers today and pop music?

I love the fact that I have [Fryderyk Franciszek] Chopin and Lady Gaga in the same movie, it is all the stuff that I bring with me that I have always wanted to have in a movie. I was also working really hard to make it visually interesting. I think what I told Will and the studios is that I want to treat this like an independent movie. I want to shoot it like an independent movie where you do take your time on the characters and it has an absolute realism and authenticity. I want to shoot on the real streets in China. I don’t want to do studios and set up extras. I just want to be right there in the middle. I want the fights to be completely realistic. That was my approach to the whole thing. Luckily, the producers, Overbrook, and the studios felt the same way, so we always pulled the same train in that sense.

The fight scenes were pretty realistic for a PG-13 movie, was that important to you that you could really feel the punches?

HZ: Yeah. I was never a fighter, but like any young boy I ended up in street confrontations. The fact is that no matter what age you are, whether you are young or a grown up, that stuff is as scary for anybody. I wanted to have that realism totally reflected in the movie. There is no filter where we go, “It’s just a kids movie. Should we do it this way or that way?” It doesn’t matter. I never looked at it as a kids’ movie. It was a movie with kids is how I looked at it. I wanted the fights to be just like they were with The Bourne Identity or The Bourne Supremacy.

Can you tell us about working with charismatic Jayden Smith?

HZ: Jayden was on board before I became on board. He is part of the reason why I thought the movie was a great idea. He is fantastic. He photographs unbelievably well. He is such a beautiful child. He has a mature soul. He has a very mature aura about him. He has a great sense of humor and he is incredibly focused. I think he was the hardest working person on our crew. Nobody worked more hours than him. He had to train everyday, he had to train between takes, he had to learn Chinese, and learn his lines. I just have such huge respect for him and still he always maintained his sense of humor. He is much like his dad.

And what was it like working with Will Smith behind the camera?

[Will] as a producer is a dream for a director. There was just constant motivation with positive energy. As a director you are always looking for perfection, but sometimes you are limited by the producers. They tell you to move on and it is good enough, but it was never that. It was always, “Let’s make it the absolute best we can, and we are not going to stop until we got it.” For a director, that is just a dream. I had such a good time working with them.

Did you feel like this is a remake or like you are introducing the film to the newer generation in a whole new way?

HZ: Well this is part of the reason people are skeptical to us remaking it. I always say that I am not remaking the original movie. I am retelling a story. I think it is a story that deserves to be retold because it is such a great life lesson for young people. It is such a motivating movie and you learn so much from it that it deserves to be retold again. We have honored the original one, and we sort of homage it.

It seems to work well for both those who have seen it and those who have not seen it.

HZ: I keep hearing that too. After ten minutes, people forget that it is a remake.

In the film we get to see more of Jackie Chan’s serious side, was that something he wanted to show or that you pushed out of him?

HZ: We always wanted to go deep with the character. When I met Jackie for the first time, I saw right away that he is a man with the heart in the right place. He is very emotional and a very connected man. He wanted to go that mile himself, so it was kind of a mutual thing. He always wanted to go to that place himself, but I think that people will see that he isn’t only a movie star, he is also a great actor.

I had taken a picture of a guy in the street in Beijing; a man on a bicycle with. I thought that was the character. He had that leather hat, the blue jacket, and the button up t-shirt. I showed it to Jackie and told him, “That is your character.” This is the man, but you have to cut your hair. He said, “I never cut my hair for a movie.” I said, “Well this is the guy. I need you to look like this. You can’t have that full set of hair. You need to look a lot more like the tired, soulful character.” Then he said, “Okay. I’ll cut my hair only for you” (laughs).

SOURCE: SCREENCRAVE.COM

Some First Reviews are Out for The Karate Kid

I am going to highlight bits within each review and comment at the end.

Movie Review: Despite new setting, remake of 'The Karate Kid' follows all the same moves

By Christy Lemire (CP) – 3 hours ago

Fellow children of the '80s: Merely pondering the possibility of a "Karate Kid" remake tears at the very fiber of our adolescence.

No one else needs to say the words "wax on-wax off" ever again. No teen bully could possibly be as slickly menacing as Billy Zabka. And as climactic showdown songs go, nothing could beat the cliched bombast of "You're the Best Around." (Now it'll be stuck in your head the rest of the day, just like it's stuck in mine. You're welcome.)

Sure, John G. Avildsen's original 1984 movie was formulaic, but it was OUR formula. There was no doubt Daniel-San was ever going to lose to rich, arrogant Johnny, leader of the Cobra Kai, in the finals of the big karate tournament. But that was OK. He had heart on his side — and the crane kick. Avildsen also directed "Rocky," so he knew a little something about playing up the underdog theme for maximum emotional impact. We were sucked in despite ourselves.

Nevertheless, a new version of "The Karate Kid" is upon us. Director Harald Zwart ("Agent Cody Banks") hits all the same notes and adheres closely to Robert Mark Kamen's original script, down to a sweep-the-leg moment in the finale. Details have been tweaked in Christopher Murphey's new script, including the setting: Instead of moving from New Jersey to Los Angeles because of his single mom's new job, our young hero moves from Detroit to Beijing, where he promptly incurs the wrath of the local thugs and learns martial arts to protect himself. (And by the way, it's now kung fu.)

But one of the biggest changes of all is the character's age.

Ralph Macchio was what, like, 35 when he played Daniel? But he looked 16, as his character was, so he seemed like a good fit. Now the character, Dre, is 12 — as is the film's star, Jaden Smith, son of Will and Jada (both executive producers). But with his pretty face and slight build, Smith looks about 9. It's inescapably distracting. And so neither the fighting nor the romance with a girl who's out of his league — two key components of "The Karate Kid" — makes sense.

Even after the obligatory training montage, Smith is still a tiny, lean kid. Macchio didn't exactly bulk up, but he had an attitude about him, an East Coast swagger, that helped make his transformation into a karate master believable. Plus it's just uncomfortable watching kids this age beat each other up to the point of serious injury; there's no one to root for in that.

Still, we must watch Dre go through the motions of learning from Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the handyman in the building where he and his mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) now live.

Dre hates it in China — doesn't understand the language, can't use chopsticks, etc. — but when he meets a pretty violinist named Mei Ying in the park, he's smitten. School bully Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) doesn't like this development, though, and goes on a mission to make Dre's life even more hellish than it already was. Enter Mr. Han, who not only fights off Dre's enemies, he heals the boy's injuries and puts him through his own peculiar training regimen.

We all know where this is headed: The Big Tournament. But first, "The Karate Kid" stops at the Great Wall and the Forbidden City — you know, just because they're picturesque — which contribute to the movie's overlong running time. Still, Chan is solid in an extremely different role, one that's much more serious and understated than his well-known, playful persona. All the trademark acrobatics are there, but without the cheerful mugging. After decades on screen, it's refreshing to see Chan shift gears like this.

Functioning in the Mr. Miyagi role, Chan also has decent chemistry with Smith. But things are awkward between Smith and Wenwen Han, the Chinese version of Elisabeth Shue's Ali-with-an-I. Their ages, her shy demeanour, her English (which is sometimes hard to understand) — all these factors conspire against them, and the film.

The ending is still rousing enough to make the film a crowd-pleaser, though. But after this, hopefully some '80s classics like "Sixteen Candles," ''Better Off Dead" and "Revenge of the Nerds" will remain off-limits.

"The Karate Kid," a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language. Running time: 135 minutes. Two stars out of four.

SOURCE: CANADIAN PRESS

I must admit that the issue of age in this film has bothered me since the beginning. I could not (and still cannot) see how they can cast an 11 yr old effectively in this part. There are aspects of the film such as the romance and the passions it arouses that are just not believable with characters in that age set but then I am being guilty of comparing it with the original. I am pleased how many people are noting how good Jackie is in the part. I had hoped that this movie would do that for him since the beginning (yes I have had a mixed emotions - part of me screamed NO NO NO and part screamed YES YES YES). Who knows if this is also a role worthy of an Oscar nomination as it was for Pat Morita as so many other factors such as what other movies are in the running play a part - but at very least I am hoping this part changes perceptions about Jackie's acting.

‘Karate Kid’ kicks high
By ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ

While it’s strange to call a film “Karate Kid” when there is none of the famous Japanese martial arts in it, an issue over its title can’t bring the enjoyable and inspiring remake of the classic movie down.

The 2010 “Karate Kid” borrows some plot lines from the well-loved 1984 version and added a new flavor to it -- Chinese, to be exact. Jaden Smith is Dre Parker, a 12-year old kid who unwillingly moves with his mother (Taraji Henson) to China. By some twist of fate (and of his arms and legs because of school bullying), Dre finds himself learning martial arts under maintenance man-slash-Kung Fu master, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), in order to earn the respect of those mistreating him.

Unlike the previously released “Sex and the City 2,” the Harald Zwart-directed flick is culture-friendly, showing the historic country’s way of life and presenting the basics and philosophies of Kung Fu in a way that is accessible and appreciable.

Jaden clearly inherited the genes of his parents, Jada and Will, who happen to be two of the movie’s producers, exhibiting acting prowess with dedication and conviction that make his portrayal respectable in its own right. And everytime he shows off his fierce karate skills, he looks like a pro who has been doing it for the longest time. Plus, movie heroes-in-the-making always have cute chicks on their side, and for Jaden, it’s Mei Ying (Han Wen Wen), the sweet violinist. Their young love story was a fictional testament that cultural differences can be overcome.

The film is also another avenue for Jackie not only to showcase his martial arts skills but also to show his dramatic side. The film icon exposed two sides of his character: intense as a teacher, but tender as a father figure to Dre, who had lost his dad early on. His tandem with Jaden is rousing, at times funny, but overall, has the gentle punch particularly for fathers and sons.

We get it that this is a remake, but it’s just a bit distracting to hear popular songs played almost all over the film, like Jay Sean’s “Do You Remember?”, John Mayer’s “Say,” Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” and Flo Rida’s “Low.” Sometimes when a song is all-too familiar, it takes away the audience from the scene instead of pulling them into it.

The two-and-a-half-hour running time is quite acceptable considering the story was not just about Kung Fu as a skill, but Kung Fu as the journey to self-discovery, of facing one’s fears and fighting for peace.

SOURCE: MB.COM

See another positive comment for Jackie's acting in this one. I will ignore the error over Jaden's "karate skills" - ITS KUNG FU!!

INTERVIEW WITH JADEN

Twelve-year-old actor Jaden Smith, who previously starred alongside his father, Will Smith, in the worldwide hit “The Pursuit of Happyness,” now takes the star reigns himself, headlining Columbia Pictures’ new action adventure “The Karate Kid.”

In the film, Dre Parker (Smith) could have been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s (Taraji P. Henson) career takes them both to China. Dre has a hard time making friends at first but he does make a connection with his classmate Mei Ying – and the feeling is mutual – until cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre makes an enemy of the class bully, Cheng.

Feeling alone in a foreign land, Dre has no friends to turn to except the maintenance man, Mr. Han (Chan). Secretly a master of kung fu, Mr. Han and Dre begin to train together, building a friendship and moving toward a final showdown with Cheng at a kung fu tournament. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre learns that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

Q: Were you a fan of the original Karate Kid?
A: Yes, I was. I thought it was cool. It’s old but it’s still really good, it’s like how Avatar will be in like 20 years (laughs).

Q: What was it like being in China?
A: Great, it’s really interesting. They have so many cool things especially where we were staying – they have The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, so many things. On our first day in China I went to an amusement park and we were racing in these cars. I wish I could speak the language though. I remember we were at the amusement park and these guys were yelling at us and I had no idea what they were saying, they just started yelling for some reason. It was like ‘why are they yelling?’

Q: Let’s talk about your training with Master Wu. What was that like?
A: Great. It was three months before, four months during the shoot and I’m training again now, I have to leave here and then go to him. There was a lot of training and at one point we really didn’t think we would have enough time to learn it. And you know, on set we would have a few little accidents. OK I admit it - I got hit like once! (laughs) But you have to make some contact otherwise it doesn’t work. And if you are going to hit someone and they are meant to block the blow and they don’t, well they are going to get hit in the face. So they need to block it.

Q: What happened when you were hit?
A: I remember we were doing this scene and there was this guy who was shouting at me and I had to be really scared and he strikes out at me and I was meant to block it. I put my head the other way and I got hit in the face once and in the ribs once – but the ribs was actually part of the scene. I actually thought my nose was bleeding, but it wasn’t.

Q: Do you think you’re good at kung fu now?
A: Yeah, I’m better than I was before, like 400 percent. 400 percent better than I was at the beginning.

BULLIES, GIRLS AND JACKIE CHAN

Q: Dre gets bullied at his new school in China. What do you think about bullies?
A: I think bullies are like not cool (laughs). But I’ve never been bullied because I’ve always known how to fight my whole life because I’ve been doing karate since I’ve been like three and so bullies never have really bothered me. And the schools I’ve gone to haven’t really had physical bullies; they would have mean people, but like not physical bullies.

Q: Let’s talk about girls. What does Dre see in Mai Ying that clicks with him?
A: He definitely thinks that she’s really beautiful. And he likes her a lot but he’s really awkward when he’s around her. I think that she likes him too and thinks that he’s funny. And she likes the things that he does, and he’s different too, because he says things like ‘yo!’ and ‘whaddup?’ (laughs).

Q: How about working with Jackie Chan?
A: Oh man, he is amazing. Every time that he would come in he would say ‘good morning’ in a different language. And he would teach like the crew members things and he would teach me things. Man, he was just very straight forward and he would get things done when he needed to get things done, you know? He was like the most amazing person ever, and like he was always teaching me things, he was teaching me things about how to stretch correctly, and how to like be in a scene correctly, and he would always tell me ‘OK, yeah, you need to focus..’ He was great. And he would always be right there with me the whole time.

Q: He’s supposed to be really funny, is he?
A: Oh yeah, he’s hilarious. I actually just saw him at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, we had to do some stuff.

Q: What’s the most important thing he taught you?
A: Probably to stay focused when you’re in the scene because if you’re focused and you can get it done, and the funniest thing he taught me is he would always go like this (drums his fingers) so you can play like a little song. I was doing it all the time.

THE GREAT WALL AND BURGERS

Q: Why have you continued your martial arts training?
A: Well, I want to stay buff, you know. I’m trying to get my Taylor Lautner thing going on. Just in case they need a stunt double for Eclipse or something (laughs). I’m like ‘buff guy, here! Ready for any action, ready to turn into a werewolf at any time!’

Q: You filmed at Wudang and on The Great Wall…
A: First things first, I got sick on Wudang and I got sick real bad, couldn’t shoot, I shot one day, or two days at Wudang, and that’s the first time I watched Poltergeist, that movie’s awesome, and it was cool, Wudang. And The Great Wall was cool. But I had to do a lot of running and punching and kicking on it, and it was scalding hot sun, so it was exhausting, too.

Q: How about Shogun Academy?
A: That place was crazy and there was a whole bunch of kids doing their stuff there. It was cool and in the movie it looks amazing.

Q: What do you think of Chinese food?
A: I didn’t eat any Chinese food while I was there - I had burgers. Bling burgers. Yeah, it, they’re like In and Out for China and they’re really, they’re really good (laughs). I was surprised by how good they were.

SOURCE: MB.COM

New Stills From The Karate Kid

AND ONE NEW POSTER:

Interview with Harald Zwart for "The Karate Kid"

Here is an interview with Harald Zwart - director of "The Karate Kid" that might just change your mind about the movie.

I'd love to start at the top and ask how you got onto this project and how your career has progressed to this point?

Harald Zwart: Well, I had already done a movie for Sony so they knew me. And so it was kind of easy for me to get in the mix. But then once I was in the mix, there was a bunch of other people who were really wanting to do this project. And I got further and further up the food chain, meeting after meeting after meeting. And I felt that I knew exactly how I wanted to do the movie - I kind of wanted to treat it a little like an independent movie. I wanted to give the movie the flavor that independent European movies have. I'm from Europe and so I tried to really emphasize on what the emotional side was going to be in my version. I also tried to bring in the Shadow Theater and elements of China that you don't normally see. And I got further and further up and then eventually it was me and one other guy and I could not kick him out of the competition. So what I did was I - my wife and I just said - what do we do now, because he was a guy who had done a lot of these movies. He's a very talented director. And we decided to build a scale model of Jackie Chan's house [in the movie]. I could send you pictures if you want.

Sure.

Zwart: And we went into this model train store and bought sheets of roof tiles and then we spent three days after the kids had gone to bed and built his whole courtyard. It's about this big. We put little dummies and she came up with that utility pole in the middle, and then I started playing with the flashlight and I discovered that oh, they can actually become the Shadow Theater, with the lights from the car, and we lit it with little lamps. And that's how I walked into - Amy Pascal['s office], who is the head of Sony - a really smart woman and she responds to… I mean she just likes it when you show stuff like that. The passion and she understands the texture of things. And so once that thing was on the table, I think I won the competition [right] then. I don't know [if it was] that thing alone, but it was just something extra. At least that's how it looked from my point of view

Right, I know what you're saying. I have so much to ask, so the next topic… From the beginning, was it always the idea to move it to China? To set it there?

Zwart: Yeah, when I came on board, that was already [in] the script, the idea. Jackie was attached and Jaden was attached and Will was producing it with his company. So that was already done.

Did you have any involvement in the writing process once you got attached and on-board?

Zwart: Yeah, I mean, as is natural for a filmmaker, we started with - we were a group with Will and Ken Stovitz, who's a great producer, and the writer, Chris Murphy and then there was a script guru, Michael Hague, who we all have read his book. And we went off to this place up in the mountains, just working for days and days. But when you do a movie with Will Smith, he doesn't bring the book. He brings the guy who wrote the book. So that was amazing for me to sit there… We just sat around in a circle, day and night, just talking through everything, the story. We did a lot of research on the depth and the secrets of kung fu, a lot of research on bullying, inspired by Oprah Winfrey's show. We spoke to some of the people that she had on her show. I love the mythology behind just going into such depth of every character, because then once we - and we had tons of rehearsals. And then so once we went to China, it was just really painting it and making it as beautiful as we could.

It seems interesting that you were attached after Jaden and Jackie Chan were on-board. Because normally, at least from my perspective, I see directors get on-board and then it's them who are choosing the actors for the film. So what was it like coming on with them? I think the end result, obviously, they're perfect for the roles. But it must have been interesting with that dynamic coming on with them on-board and working with them moving forward.

Zwart: Yeah, I mean that happens quite a bit that you get sent a project that some star is already attached to. What that does is, it gives you the - that the likelihood of this actually becoming a movie or getting a greenlit is much greater.

Yeah, of course.

Zwart: So it's a much faster - I just realized today that it's less than a year since we started the process… So it's gone really quick. Whereas if you get a script like you say and you have to find the stars, sometimes it can [take] forever. Besides, I think, both of those guys were absolutely the perfect choice for the movie. That's also partially why I got really excited about it because I [could] just [see] the movie right away.

Was it always the intention from the beginning to pay homage to the original in the sense of its story structure? Because when I saw it, it felt very similar in the sense of the progression and the story. But the characters are different and the location is different. And I could see any number of other possibilities of saying okay, we'll take the Karate Kid's original story just go off with some other idea. But was it always that goal to stay very similar to the original, to pay homage to it as much as you could? Was that always the goal from the beginning and what you tried to do while shooting?

Zwart: Yeah, we all loved the original movie and we know that the original is very close to perfect. It's touched so many hearts. There is nothing wrong with the structure of it. It's just actually really, really good. So we just wanted to really maintain the beats and the points in the movie. But we wanted to do them different. And I think when you see the movie, most people that I hear from, they say they forget after ten minutes that they're watching a remake, even though it is actually very much point to point the same beats. The biggest challenge was obviously those amazing iconic moments, the wax on, wax off, the crane. All those things - how do we top that or at least make it as good? I remember sitting down with Will one breakfast and we were talking you about that fly thing and I thought how would I do this in a commercial? I thought we just need a button to that thing and then we all came up with, what if you think it's gonna be that, that he's going to catch it, and then the fly swatter comes out of nowhere. And that's like signing a contract with the audience saying, we know that you're waiting for these moments and you'll get them. We'll just do them a little differently. Jackie does wax the car in the movie. You can see the crane in the shadow on the wall. So they're all there, every single one of them. We just did them differently.

Are you concerned about the comparisons that are going to be made between the two films in the end when it comes out? Do you feel a lot of that stress?

Zwart: Yeah, it's funny. Like I said, I'm from Europe and the movie was a big hit back there. But it wasn't as enormous as it was here. When I went on the project, I didn't know that this was like messing with a national treasure. I didn't know that. And I might have been more nervous going into it then. So I was like okay, let's just make the best movie possible. And then after a while, when people came surfacing saying, what are they doing messing with this, to me it would have been the same thing as somebody trying to make a remake of Star Wars - I'd be like oh, come on. But I think we've succeeded very well in making it different enough that - because we're retelling a story. We're not necessarily remaking a movie. And it's an epic story about a kid who really needs to stand up for himself and he gets helped by a mentor. I always compared - it's as if Spielberg came to me and said, okay I will spend three months teaching only you how to make movies. I think what works in our favor is Jackie Chan, the idea of having Jackie Chan teach you and only you for months after months, is more than what Mr. Miyagi kind of achieved back then, I think. Because everybody knows him as - oh how cool would that be?

Obviously this comes from China being the location, but kung fu being the new form of martial arts that is the focus of the film. Is that something that from the beginning was the plan and was there ever a possibility that it would have just been karate like previously?

Zwart: No, in going to China, it had to be kung fu. And we just had to figure out how to make people understand that we know China is kung fu and karate is Japan. And we decided to keep the title because when you see the movie, you'll understand that it is a stigma. They are teasing him by calling him the karate kid. That's why it made total sense to us. In the movie, also the mom who doesn't really know the difference, she says, 'didn't you like that karate class?' And he goes, 'it's not karate mom.' So we all know it's kung fu. For me the big difference physically, was that in karate, there is a lot of the mechanical, this and that and you can just rehearse things over an over again. Kung fu is a lot more of a ballet. So when we came up with the jacket on, jacket off thing, there are like twelve moves buried in one single swooping move. And that's what I loved about the whole idea, that you can learn one thing and what you discover is that you've actually learned twelve different kung fu moves within that one little thing.

Who did you work with in China for all the kung fu training?

Zwart: We worked with Wu Gang. He's the master, as they call them, and he is one of Jackie Chan's guys and he himself was a champion in kung fu and wushu, as they call it over there. And he was fantastic. I mean the choreography on the end fights are just amazing.

Yeah - that was one of my favorite parts, just watching him learning kung fu, especially for me. Since I don't know it, instead of just seeing a movie where they're just perfect at it, watching the progression of learning how to do it up to that point and then seeing Jackie Chan's skills and everyone else just coming into it. I thought it was just, as you said, beautiful, and the choreography was great in the end.

Zwart: Well, thank you.

What was it like shooting in China? I imagine that was very interesting.

Zwart: Yeah, I mean, having had a commercial career, I pretty much shot all over the world already. I thought I had never come across any challenges that I wasn't going to - I thought I knew most things, very pretentiously of course. But then in China, it was a whole different aspect, because of the language barrier obviously, which we overcame with translators. And there is also a massive amount - the crew was a 550 man crew.

Wow.

Zwart: I wanted to make this a bit like Slumdog Millionaire, where I went into the streets and the corners of Beijing and shot authentic stuff. So I had to just talk to Jackie and Will and say - because they come with… Jackie - it's Beatlemania when Jackie walks up the street in China. So I had to say, let's jump in a van and you guys put on baseball caps and sunglasses and we'll get ready. When the cameras are rolling, you jump out, and Will was standing behind with me on a small monitor. That was the only way we could actually do it, because as soon as Jackie walked through the shot and they saw that he was there, it was pandemonium. And the same thing when we went to the mountains and those temples. To get there, you have to drive for hours into the mountains and then take a bus and then take a gondola that just takes two people and it goes almost vertical. And I said, I'm dependent on the light. If I'm going to wait up there for a 550 man crew… So we just all - let's do this like an indie movie and Will and Jaden jumped on with lens cases on their lap and Jackie schlepped equipment up. And we just shot it all off the shoulder and that's how it got that whole vibe all the way through the movie, which I'm very happy with.

How has the post-production process been? How has it been coming together for you watching it here and scoring and everything you're doing?

Zwart: I mean, that's always my favorite part. We cut the movie together pretty quickly and had an amazing test screening, which just convinced everybody this movie was maybe bigger than we first thought. And then we were so fortunate to get James Horner who came straight off of Avatar and nobody thought we would get him. But we showed him the movie and he loved it. So the last few days we've been in here, in the old Son scoring stages, and we just added the last touch of James Horner which gives the movie an enormous scope.

I'm looking forward to seeing how well it does and just reception. From what I saw watching it, I think it will be received very well. I think it's got potential to live up to the original and really surprise fans with everything you said in that it's a very different story, but with the same beats and different locations. I think it's a really great feel.

Zwart: Thank you.

With your career so far, you've done mainly family films.

Zwart: Yeah.

And is that sort of your forte? Is that what you love doing? Would you love to branch off in different genres and do other kind of films?

Zwart: Yeah. I think that's always a tough question. You always have these discussions with your team, the agents, and what's a good career move. And like I said, I've never really considered myself as very specific genre this or genre that. And commercials have taken me all over the gamut in terms of genres. So if you put the career thinking hat on, you go, oh family movies. That would make a lot of money. But you know, as a filmmaker, I think I've shown, at least with Karate Kid, that the visual side and that there's a much more - I think that goes for any director - that there's a lot more in every filmmaker than what you pigeonholed him to [initially]. But I would definitely love to get into more - I love science fiction. If I could make like a really serious Alien type movie, I would love that.

I also like the Indiana Jones franchise, with adventure but still serious and scary for kids. I wish I could just give you a clear answer, but frankly I really don't know.

Well, I mean it's essentially a hypothetical question, as in like what would you love to do?

Zwart: It's like I said, if the story intrigues you, the genre comes second, I think.

Yeah, interesting. That reminded me about shooting in China on locations and obviously the result in this is so visceral, so unique. But we see so often nowadays the trend of shooting in studio, shooting with green screens. Moving forward in your career, are you going to strive to shoot on location as much as you can? I mean, you said before that you've shot around the world. It seems like you really like doing that?

Zwart: Yeah. I think the authenticity of things… We decided on this movie also - no green screen, no effects, nothing. We want to go there and be on those locations. And it does give the movie a different breath, I think. There are still limitations, I think, in what you can achieve on green screen and the suspension of disbelief is always limited when people smell that they've been manipulated. It, again, depends on the story. But I always try to do as much in camera as I possibly can.

Is there anything else that you are currently attached to or working on besides The Karate Kid?

Zwart: Yeah, I have a few things. They're not announced yet, so I don't think I can speak about them. You'll be the first to know. Yeah, I'm reading a bunch of stuff and the buzz is getting around town. I think people see, oh, is that the same guy who did these movies? So that I'm very happy about.

Yeah, like I said, I'm looking forward to seeing it come out and the progression of your career and whatever you do next, I'm already looking forward to it.

Zwart: Oh, thank you. That's nice of you. Thank you.

Thanks to Harald, Bebe, and Gillian, for putting together this interview. Go see The Karate Kid this summer!

SOURCE: FIRST SHOWING.NET

Please follow the link to view their exclusive video of the interview.

Good translation of some of the news from the last few days

Thanks to HKSAR Film No Top 10 Box Office here is a good translation of some of the news from the last few days.

The Jackie Chan and Will Smith's son Jaden starred KUNG FU KID officially began production on Mount Wudang on the 14th.

KUNG FU KID was a China Film Group, Overbook, and Sony Pictures co-production. The key locations will be the Beijing palace, Tiannanmen Square, the Great Wall and Mount Wudang. The Mount Wudang shoot took place between the 14th and the 17th. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television have approved the production. The team included famous Hollywood director Harald Zwart, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON and THE MUMMY 3 production manager Liu Erdong and famous actor Jackie Chan. The locations included Jinding, Nanyan and Carefree Valley.

After the Beijing Olympics, an American mother came to work in China. She brought her son Dre on their first trip to China. Dre enrolled in an international school and met some Chinese friends. A Chinese girl Miying helped him a lot. Dre got into a conflict with a Chinese kid named Lu Weicheng, who bullied Dre with martial arts and embarrassed him. Dre decided to learn martial art in order to beat Lu Weicheng in the annual student wushu competition and win back his dignity. They finally meet at the competition, during which they increase their understanding and became good friends. The Mount Wudang shoot was about Jackie Chan's Han Wutian who brought Dre to visit Mount Wudang and study gong fu. KUNG FU KID will be released June 11 next year in North America and imported to China as well.