Following a successful jaunt into animated TV and streaming, The Karate Kid franchise will now head to the stage as a musical with a limited "pre-Broadway" run in 2022.
The Karate Kid–The Musical will be written by original screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen with music and lyrics from Drew Gasparini of the NBC musical drama Smash. It will kick off with a limited engagement on May 25 in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, Mo. and will run through June 26 hosted by Stages St. Louis.
"When I was a young man, my life was forever changed by traditional Okinawan Karate and the instructors who taught it to me,” Kamen said in a statement to Deadline.