It looks like Will Smith is assembling a very serious team for his family reboot 80s classic The Karate Kid. Not only has he drafted screenwriter Steve Conrad who penned tear-jerker **The Pursuit Of Happyness **for himself and his son, but he has also signed Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson to play Jaden's single mother.
Conrad, who wrote The Weather Man for Nicolas Cage, replaces newcomer Chris Murphy who was original hired to form the script. The established writer currently has two other irons in the script-writing fire with both familial drama **Aloft **and Brad Pitt look-alikey comedy Chad Schmidt in pre-production.
Production on** The Karate Kid**/ Kung Fu Kid or whatever they are calling it now, kicks off next month with **Agent Cody Banks **director Harald Zwart overseeing the proceedings. Jackie Chan - who will assume the Mr Miyagi mentor mantle, now called Mr Han - must be practising his "wax on, wax off" technique as we speak.
Jaden plays Dre, a young boy who moves to California with his single mum and looks to a local martial arts teacher to coach him through being tough times in his new home by using moves like the Crane Kick to whoop some bully ass.
The film is due for release in July 2010.