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Ralph Macchio Won’t Make Another ‘Karate Kid’ Film

By Kristina Smolenski Nelson
Published on: 10:38 PST, Mar 25, 2019

Years have passed since we’ve seen Ralph Macchio in a Karate Kid movie, leaving many people to wonder if the actor would ever consider making another one today. However, Macchio no longer thinks he is the man for the job because movie making has changed vastly since he starred as Daniel LaRusso in the trilogy of movies.

Back in 1984, the now 57-year-old Macchio played the lead role of Daniel LaRusso in the first Karate Kid film. Two sequels followed the initial movie, with Macchio starring as the lead in both of them. Macchio also played his popular character from the movie yet again for a web television show called Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai starts the story 34 years after the ending of the original film. The web series tells the story of the Cobra Kai karate dojo, which is being reopened by Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka), who reaches out to his old rival, LaRusso, for some business advice.

Cobra Kai has been very successful as a series, and its obvious popularity inspired some to talk about making another Karate Kid film with both Lawrence and LaRusso as major characters. However, Macchio unfortunately can’t see himself or the story working well as a major film in today’s world. Macchio feels that a lot has changed in the film industry since he played LaRusso in the 1980s, and in his opinion, the story works better now as a television show.

”It has been discussed, but it’s not something that I think we’re moving forward with and here’s the reason for that,” Macchio said, according to Contact Music. ”To go back and try to do a traditional major motion picture sequel, movies have changed in the sense of what plays in the movie theatres and for how long. It’s usually big IPs like superhero movies that get that screen time and then there’s everything else. It’s hard.”

Macchio prefers to keep LaRusso’s story within a television series instead of a film, mostly because television provides many episodes and much more time to develop the character. Films do not offer as much time to demonstrate a character’s personality and story, where television can allow for viewers to see a more in-depth story.

”The beauty of doing this as a series is that you’re taking this series and making a five-hour movie then cutting up into ten half-hour parts. It allows the characters to breathe then you’re allowed to go into grey areas of Daniel and Johnny’s lives, to explore the younger characters as well as the plot,” Macchio said, according to Contact Music.

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