The Karate Kid Chops the A-Team

Following much hype and speculation, the long-awaited release of The Karate Kid made a fantastic $56 million in its Friday-Sunday debut release in the US last week.

The A-Team, which was the weekend’s other major release and 1980’s revival was beaten into second place, with an underwhelming $26 million debut – despite having cost an extra $60 million to produce.

This welcome news bodes well for martial arts schools here in the UK. The success of the film in the US, combined with the fact that the film has been awarded a Parental Guidance (PG) rating certificate here in the UK suggests that the film will live up to expectations introduce new students to the benefits of martial arts.

Interestingly, a study of cinemagoers in the US found that The Karate Kid made its bank from families, with 45 percent of ticket buyers bringing their own karate kids to see the film and 56 percent of film-watchers being under the age of 25.