Joshua Jackson has booked his first major film role in a decade with Sony Pictures’ new “Karate Kid” movie, TheWrap has confirmed.
The film also stars 17-year-old Chinese American actor Ben Wang in the title role along with Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan, who will reprise their respective roles from the original franchise and its reboot.
Helming the project is director Jonathan Entwistle, known for his work on Netflix’s acclaimed series “I Am Not Okay With This” and “The End of the F***ing World.” The screenplay comes from Rob Lieber, writer of the popular children’s film “Peter Rabbit.”
Veteran producer Karen Rosenfelt, whose credits include the “Twilight” saga and the “Percy Jackson” films, will produce.
Over its 40-year lifespan, the massively popular “Karate Kid” franchise has earned over $618 million at the global box office. Its hit spin-off series “Cobra Kai” has introduced the property to a new generation and earned an Emmy nomination in the process.
Jackson most recently starred in the Paramount+ drama series “Fatal Attraction” and the Peacock drama series “Dr. Death,” for which Jackson earned a 2022 Critics Choice Award. Jackson first broke out and became well known as “Dawson’s Creek’s” fast-talking, self-deprecating Pacey Witter.
Jackson’s other recent credits include the Hulu limited series “Little Fires Everywhere” starring opposite Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, the award-winning Netflix mini-series “When They See Us” for Ava DuVernay, Showtime’s “The Affair,” and FOX’s “Fringe” created by J.J. Abrams.
Jackson is repped by by CAA, Anonymous Content, imprint and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.