Ralph Macchio Talks About the Ridiculous KARATE KID Spin-Off and Sequel Pitches He's Heard Over the Years
Ralph Macchio is a household name once again as his ‘80s film trilogy about The Karate Kid has successfully been translated into the fantastic series Cobra Kai. The series follows his character Daniel LaRusso, who is now the owner of a car dealership and has a family and happy life. He is reunited with his old high school nemesis, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), who has been less successful as an adult, and both their lives take off in a wild direction as karate takes over their lives again.
The show is so good, and its writers are fans of the franchise, so they know what we want to see. It’s been a huge hit with people who loved the movies, as well as a new generation who connects with the younger cast. The stars certainly aligned with this series, but Macchio says he has heard every pitch under the sun over the past few decades, and most of them were pretty ridiculous.
In his recently released memoir, Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me, the actor says:
Now, in the early days — say, the late 1990s, when I first started hearing ideas — I was pretty much at a point where I wasn't willing to listen. This was a period in my career when I was actively trying to separate from the typecasting. However, as time went on I would slowly open one ear at a time and attempt to be flexible enough to at least hear them out. I must admit on most occasions it was challenging to get past the first few sentences.
Miyagi dies tragically and comes back as a ghost to guide you.
You have a kid that is a bully and you need to be the Miyagi to your troubled kid . . . who also has a drug problem.
Ali is pregnant with Johnny's child and you can't deal even though you're now married to Kumiko.
Those are just a few that stick in my mind. The best part is that they were completely serious and came from a perspective of trying to help. It was less about "I have a great idea" and more about "I want to get you back."
He also fondly remembers one idea that was highly unusual, but a lot of fun to think about:
Then there was one of my favorites. It was delivered by a screenwriter to both John Avildsen and myself at a lunch with two studio executives. This was all and everything that is both great and terrible about Hollywood. I believe we were having the lunch to discuss a separate movie project that never did come to fruition. This was after the Hilary Swank version, The Next Karate Kid, had come and gone. I remember the enthusiasm with which the writer gave his "elevator pitch" to John, me, and the studio execs. John had directed both Rocky and The Karate Kid, so that lent itself to this writer's conceptual idea. It was basically a version of this:
What if Rocky Balboa had a kid and Daniel-san had a kid and they were both f---ups and you, Ralph and Stallone, come together between New Jersey and Philadelphia to join in a Miyagi/Mickey style of fight training. People would go nuts!
A pregnant pause. It seemed to last for ten minutes, though it was probably only four seconds. Suspended animation. How to process it and respond? The most vivid image in my mind is the lean-in by the two studio executives, as if they were attempting to will it to make sense. John and I shared a mystified look about the concept of this crossover idea. My mind raced to gather visions of Stallone and me running through the slums of Newark. Then John burst into laughter, simply responding that it would not work and was a forced idea. I believe he diplomatically said he wasn't interested in combining those two franchises or those characters. Clearly this was before DC Comics and Marvel changed the landscape of the cinematic superhero world. What did we know? But for that moment it was both intriguing and hilarious. The executives also agreed it wouldn't work; however, they could not mask their disappointment that a big idea had fallen through. Like a prize fish was being reeled in and just when it got to the side of the boat, the line snapped. It was a classic Hollywood show-business moment I'll never forget.
It would be pretty wild to have Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in the Miyagi-verse! People definitely would have shown up to watch it, but I’m glad that we held out for Cobra Kai, because it’s just the best. It’s what fans and the original actors from the franchise deserve.
What do you think? Would you have liked to have seen Daniel and Rocky team up?
via: EW