In November it was confirmed that Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith had been cast in a “refashioned” remake of the 1980’s classic The Karate Kid. Set in the “exotic locale” of Beijing, Chris Murphy’s screenplay is said to “borrow elements” from the original film, and is not a strict remake.If you didn’t think the idea could get worse, well, you were wrong.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Jackie Chan will play the Mr. Miyagi role and that Pink Panther 2 director Harold Zwart would helm the “remake”. Many people don’t remember this but Pat Morita was actually nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the original Karate Kid. The fact that Jackie Chan couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag is extremely troubling.

And the director of The Pink Panther 2? Really? C’mon! They obviously aren’t even trying? Did they just pull Zwart’s name out of a hat filled with names of available directors? This whole story is sounding more and more like an April Fools day joke, but the joke is on us. The movie is actually being made.

With all the cost cutting going on in Hollywood recently, I suggest that Columbia Pictures drop this project  entirely from their upcoming film plate. Columbia, you are about to make an entire generation of moviewatchers very angry. Please, leave this property alone. Walk away now and we will all pretend that this never happened.

Jaden, an avid practitioner of karate, made his big screen debut as Will Smith’s son (big stretch) in Pursuit of Happyness. His performance in The Day the Earth Stood Still was highly criticized.

Discuss: Contribute your negative thoughts below.