First it was The Karate Kid, then it was The Kung Fu Kid, then it was back to The Karate Kid. However, is it about to be renamed The Kung Fu Kid…again?

So says star and Kung Fu…I mean Karate…er… I mean…oh… movie star Jackie Chan.

According to MTV via jadensmith.org via our reader Jon, Chan gave away some details on the title change when he was at the People Choice Awards. Chan is quoted as saying the following:

“We just finished the movie, Karate Kid. Um, the Kung Fu Kid. I don’t know. Probably Kung Fu Kid in China and Karate Kid in America. Maybe a different title? I don’t know. But mostly we’ve called it ‘The Kung Fu Kid.”

Chan went on to explain:

“It’s a totally different story; a totally different story. I was in China, Jaden was all the way from America to China, then they see me, then it’s how I teach him martial arts.”

It’s odd that it would appear that the filmmakers are still unsure what to call the film this late in the game – especially for a big budget summer picture (albeit lacking in effects). The studio already released at least one poster and a trailer for the film and it might be a little confusing for some if they change the title.

I’m sure, though, that the marketers or producers have good reasons (if this is indeed the case) for flip-flopping on their choices. Maybe The Kung Fu Kid tested better in marketing focus groups, or maybe they don’t want the film to be tarnished with the remake brush because the storyline is so different. There is also the fact (as many, many, many of our readers have pointed out) that karate is a Japanese martial art (the movie is set in China) and is not at all the style that Smith and Chan are seen practicing in the trailer for the film.

Personally, I’m not too fussed. While I’m not a big fan of remakes, the thought of this doesn’t really get my blood boiling. If they call it The Kung Fu Kid, I’d imagine it keeps fans of the original (and its sequels) happy and it opens it up to a new audience without any preconceived notions.

I can only imagine that Carl Douglas is hoping that they go for the Kung Fu angle so that his pension fund gets replenished.

Again, thanks to the heads-up from Jon!

The Karate/ Kung Fu Kid opens on June 11, 2010 so I’m sure that we will find out details soon enough.

Source: jadensmith.org

Happy Friday everyone! Today we’ve again gathered the latest posters to come out for this week’s poster round-up.

Screen Rant’s wall this week now includes one-sheets for Toy Story 3, Saw VI, Paranormal Activity, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Blind Side, Dark Country, Jekyll & Hyde, The Hole, Get Low, The Descent: Part 2, The Karate Kid, The Fourth Kind, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and A Christmas Carol.

But that’s not all! We also have the latest sets of character banners for Where The Wild Things Are and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here’s the first teaser poster for Toy Story 3 thanks to our friends at Latino Review:

Source: Latino Review

A remake of the classic ’80s movie, The Karate Kid, is something that, when announced, was met with the same groans and “Please no!” responses (from most folks out there) similar to about every other dreaded remake. The fact that they reportedly changed the name to Kung Fu Kid, as well as the storyline that was reported being a bit on the cheesy side, didn’t exactly help matters.

Today we get the news that the title of this remake has officially been changed to Kung Fu Kid.

Admittedly it makes sense since it’s Kung Fu our lead learns and not Karate as in the original. Playing the lead is Will Smith’s son, Jayden, as a kid (would you have guessed it?) who moves to China with his mum, gets bullied at school, and eventually ends up learning Kung Fu from Mr. Han (Jackie Chan, playing the remake’s equivalent of Mr. Miyagi). I’ve said it before – it’s not the absolute worst idea in the world, but couldn’t they have conjured something a bit better?

The Harald Zwart (Pink Panther 2) directed martial arts remake actually started filming this weekend in Beijing (heck, at least they’re shooting the camera’s in the right location…), where the story it will take place in modern day. The shooting schedule of the film is set to last for three months, and to celebrate the start of production, a traditional Chinese ceremony was held on Saturday.

Jayden Smith was there at the ceremony with his father, Will, mother, Jada Pinkett, and sister, Willow. In a video shot of the ceremony put online at Sina.com, Will Smith, Chan, and Zwart, “symbolically removed a piece of red cloth covering a movie camera, after which Smith gave Chan a hug.” If you want to take a look at the ten-minute video of the ceremony, you can head here.

'Kung Fu Kid' Beijing ceremony

Even if the title change from The Karate Kid to Kung Fu Kid does distance the remake to the ’80s original, I still fear it will soil the reputation of it. I fully realize that if the remake sucks, we’ve still got the original, but as I have said on a number of occasions, today’s audiences might automatically think of this remake whenever “The Karate Kid” gets mentioned. It’s happened numerous times with all the remakes of classic horror movies (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, House of Wax, The Amityville Horror, on and on...), where most likely today’s (young) audiences will not even be aware there was one before these relentless 21st century rehashes.

I suppose that’s what the title change is for, but will the same happen with Kung Fu Kid? I believe it just might…

What do you think of this remake now officially being retitled Kung Fu Kid? Do you think there’s a chance it may turn out to be any good?

As stated, Kung Fu Kid started production last weekend in Beijing, but it doesn’t have a release date set as of yet. The film is directed by Harald Zwart, and written by Steven Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness).

Sources: AssociatedPress, /Film, and Sina