The remake of The Karate Kid is on according to reports, and the star will be the ten year old Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith.

It was back in September 2007 that we heard about a possible remake of The Karate Kid with the Smith's involved, and that was utterly killed by Will Smith.

The rumour also revealed that Jackie Chan was set to play Mr. Miyagi, the teacher of the young Karate Kid, but Will Smith killed that rumour flat saying that neither he nor his son were involved in it.

Well it looks like he was involved in it, or perhaps he wasn't at the time and the idea got into his head, either way that's no longer true as we hear from Variety that Jaden Christopher Syre Smith is starring in the film as The Karate Kid himself.

Chris Murphy is writing the script and the film is slated to start filming next year in places such as Bejing. The story also says that the script is going to be based on the idea of the original and will “borrow elements” from the film. It seems to suggest those elements are the bullied kid standing up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.

There's no word on if Will Smith is involved, nor who will play Mr Miyagi, but rumours since have had Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow playing the role, perhaps simply because those are the best known Asian martial artists in Hollywood. However I think for Chan the role might well suit – eccentric martial arts mentor? I think that works just fine.

So The Karate Kid remake is on, and young Smith is starring. It goes to show that when stars deny rumours they are often just protecting the project, and possibly ensuring the deal goes through well.

My only fear is that this turns out to be a too much of a comedy and doesn't retain enough heart and moral of the original. I hope it does.