The Forgotten Chinese Version of The Karate Kid 2010 Is a Relic of a Bygone Time

In “Never Say Never,” the title track for his 2010 musical redux of The Karate Kid, Jaden Smith raps, “No pun intended, was raised by the power of Will.” It’s a multi-level easter egg for the film. After all, the remake was produced by his parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. As a consequence, it’s as if they treated their son to the ultimate Karate Kid fanboy experience, replacing Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) with one of the greatest cinematic martial arts masters of all time, the one and only Jackie Chan. And indeed, throughout the film there’s a recurring theme of shadows.

It’s almost as if this is an ission that the new version was but a shadow of the original. 

At the time, loyalists felt that it paled in comparison to the original film. Nevertheless, the Jackie and Jaden version of The Karate Kid earned $359 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in the whole Karate Kid franchise. But then, any film that could cater to China and the U.S. stands to be highly profitable.

That was even true back in 2010 when China was only the third largest film market in the world. Fifteen years ago, China trailed the U.S and Japan but was on a steady growth pattern, which culminated in a moment during the pandemic when China emerged as the largest cinema market in the world. Since then the U.S. regained the lead, but The Karate Kid 2010 feels like a specific relic of a time and place that’s already a past: when Hollywood’s biggest hits were so dictated by Chinese box office receipts that American studios were making special versions of their films just for that market.

The USA vs. China

Today China and the U.S. compete for cinematic dominance, and the proposed tariffs on international film just might tip the scales to favor China. China has already shown its movie might this year. At the time of writing, three of the world’s 10 highest grossing movies in 2025 are Chinese productions. This year is the first time that has ever happened. Ne Zha 2 is currently the highest grossing film on the planet with a whopping global take of over $2 billion. Dubbed versions of this picture are on the way, which will boost that figure even higher. It is currently placed as the fifth highest grossing film of all time. 

The other global top 10 Chinese films are Detective Chinatown 1900, which is currently third, and Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force, which is eighth. Each of these films had a limited theatrical run in the U.S. and minimal American press coverage. However, this is the world market, not just North America, and Chinese filmmakers are clearly on the march.

Which brings us back to Jackie Chan. The martial arts legend is the most recognizable Asian A-lister in the Western world alive today, so his inclusion in the Karate Kid franchise was always intended to help increase the series’ marketability in China. In fact the 2010 Karate Kid was an international co-production between China and an American studio, which guaranteed access to both markets.

However, this does not guarantee that both markets will get the same film. To this day, the Chinese government keeps a tight control over which foreign movies are allowed to be shown in their country. All Chinese media is only shown after ing through strict scrutiny and censorship. Consequently, The Karate Kid with Jackie Chan sought to showcase modern China in a pristine light, shooting in scenic locations like the Forbidden City, the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium, and in the sacred temples within the Wudang Mountains, where the Wu-Tang Clan gets its name. 

And yet, China never saw a film titled The Karate Kid in 2010. As Jaden Smith’s Dre told his mother Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) in that film, it’s not Karate. They were in China where they practiced Kung Fu. What’s more, China never saw a film titled The Karate Kid in 1984, because it was not shown theatrically in a more closed off Chinese market. Consequently, there wasn’t much point in using the Karate Kid name because it had no brand recognition there. China didn’t know Daniel-san or Mr. Miyagi at all. What’s more, there’s really no real Karate depicted in the film, so the original title would’ve made even less sense to Chinese audiences. 

In China, 2010’s The Karate Kid was titled Gong Fu Meng, which means “Kung Fu Dream.” And on top of that, the Chinese cut of the film was incredibly different.  

The Karate Kid vs. Kung Fu Dream

It’s not uncommon for Chinese editions of films to be different from their American versions. For example the Chinese version of Iron Man 3 was longer when it was released in 2013, only a few years after The Karate Kid remake. In the U.S. version, Dr. Wu (Wang Xueqi) was a minor character. However, Wang is a well reputed character actor in China with over 50 films to his credit, so his role was significantly expanded in the Chinese version. What’s more, Fan Bingbing played Wu Jiaqi, a role that could easily have been completely missed if you blinked in the U.S. version. Fan is an award-winning A-lister in China; her part was also expanded in the Chinese version.

In Jackie’s/Jaden’s Karate Kid, there were even bigger changes. Despite being a Chinese co-production, The Karate Kid still had to kowtow to the Chinese powers that be, and they felt that the film depicted the Chinese characters poorly. Cheng (Wang Zhenwei), the 2010 version of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), was perceived to be too villainous. Consequently, the scenes of Cheng bullying Dre were cut down, which makes it appear as if Dre is hassling his bullies more than they are provoking him. 

The kiss between Dre and Meiying (Han Wenwen), the 2010 version of Ali (with an ‘I’) Mills (Elizabeth Shue), is completely deleted. Their romance is reduced to a good friendship. This also works better. Both Dre and Meiying are prepubescent characters, so their lust for each other arguably felt forced in the American version. It’s one of those Hollywood boy-gets-girl clichés that doesn’t quite fit in with the context of this film. 

The most significant omission in the U.S. film was a final fight scene between Mr. Han and Master Li (Yu Rongguang), the 2010 version of Sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove). Yu is a renowned martial arts star in China with over a hundred movies to his credit. Also known as Ringo Yu, he is best ed for his role in Iron Monkey (1993) and has played opposite Jackie Chan in several films, including Shanghai Noon (2000), New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005), and others. Like Jackie, Yu’s martial arts foundation lies in classical Chinese opera, which emphasizes flamboyant and acrobatic Kung Fu for live theater. This style translates to the big screen well and underlies many of the leading cinematic Kung Fu stars like Yuen Woo-Ping and Sammo Hung.  

The fight starts with Han stopping Li from slapping Cheng after his defeat by Dre. This reprises a slap seen when Han and Dre first visited Li’s school. The two masters fight with benches, which is a traditional weapon in Kung Fu (for a great Jackie Chan bench fight, see Jackie versus Yuan Biao in 1980’s The Young Master). Then after defeating Li, Han recites Li’s “no mercy” lesson in Mandarin, a shadow of Cobra Kai’s infamous credo.

Han is then about to punish Li who lies pinned under a bench, prone and vulnerable, but Dre stops him. Afterward Cheng and his gang bow to Mr. Han in deference. The bowing scene is kept in the U.S. version, but it’s out of context. Without the fight, Li’s most despicable qualities aren’t overtly exposed, and his students don’t have the motivation to change allegiances. 

Ultimately both versions have their pluses and minuses. The American version shows more bullying, justifying Dre’s desire for revenge. The Chinese version eradicates the superfluous romance, making the relationship between Dre and Meiying feel more wholesome and realistic. And the final fight, well, what martial arts film can’t use a good final fight with Jackie Chan?

The Kid is Difficult

Recently the title of Karate Kid: Legends was translated better than Kung Fu Dream. The Chinese title for the newest iteration in the franchise is Xiaozi Nan Chan: Kongshoudao Chuanqi. Kongshoudao is literally the Chinese word for “Karate” and Chuanqi means “legend,” so the second part of the title is relatively true to the original. But the first part is different; Xiaozi nan chan translates as “the kid is difficult.” 

However, whether or not Karate Kid: Legends has an alternate Chinese version remains to be seen.