You may have heard rumblings of Will Smith doing a remake of the ’80’s classic The Karate Kid. Well, now it’s official – Taraji P. Henson told MTV that she is starring in the remake, along with Jaden Smith — Henson will play his mother. The original 1984 Karate Kid was a media sensation, making Ralph Macchio a star and grossing over 90 million at the box office.

Published reports claim the movie will be renamed The Kung Fu Kid. Here is what Henson told MTV:

A new actor has signed on to star alongside Smith’s son and she’s a red-hot Oscar nominee coming off “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

“I’m off to Beijing [soon] to work on a film,” actress Taraji P. Henson revealed to us Sunday afternoon on the red carpet of the MTV Movie Awards. “They’re remaking ‘The Karate Kid.’”

Jackie Chan is also in talks to be part of the project.

Gotta love Taraji, she is steadily working. According to IMDB.com, she has several films in the works: Hurricane Season (Forest Whitaker, Lil’ Wayne), I Can Do Bad All by Myself (Tyler Perry, Mary J. Blige), Peep World (Sarah Silverman) and now The Karate Kid.

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