After months of buildup, Super 8 took top honors this weekend with an estimated $37 million from 3,379 locations.  That figure is significantly higher than the film had been tracking just five days ago.  Is it higher than the studio was hoping for five months ago?  Not exactly.

Having already mastered the ancient art of “Kung Fu for Pandas,” the writing-team of Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff (Kung Fu Panda) are now poised to take on karate (for humans).  Heat Vision is reporting that the two have landed the coveted gig of penning the sequel to Harald Zwart’s The Karate Kid starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith.  To be honest, given the immediate decision to make a sequel, I’m a little surprised that it took almost two and a half months for Columbia to name a writer(s).  Then again, I guess you can never be too careful when putting together a film that mass audiences are most likely going to see regardless of if it was written by able-minded gents such as Voris and Reiff or a less apt writer with a lower price tag (like myself for instance).

As of now, Columbia is declining to release any setting or plot details for the sequel (the guys just got hired, give them a chance to celebrate).  In spite of its approximately $40 million budget, 2010’s The Karate Kid has grossed nearly $300 million worldwide.  In short, be prepared for a long line of “new” Karate Kid films to come your way in the future.

After securing the opening-day record for an animated movie on Friday with $41 million, Toy Story 3 finished the weekend with an estimated $109 million – making it the second biggest animated debut of all-time behind Shrek the Third and 2010’s third largest opening overall.

Does it count as news if everyone kind of already knows it?  Deadline reports [via using their common sense] that Sony Pictures is taking pitches for The Karate Kid 2 after The Karate Kid remake smashed box office expectations and made back its entire budget in one weekend.  While I would much rather see Jackie Chan Hates Karate Kids, it looks like we’ll have to settle for another round of Jaden Smith doing roundhouse kicks.  I didn’t see the remake, but I don’t think I’d like it because I was told that no one says “Sweep the leg, Johnny.”

The reign of the weak box office came to an end this weekend with the debut of two much-hyped 1980s reboots: The Karate Kid and The A-Team. Early projections had the two titles in a tight race but, instead, the kid easily fly-kicked his way into first place with more than double what the team took in.

After two weeks of disappointing returns, it looks like the summer box office season will get some of its mojo back this weekend, thanks mainly to a surprisingly robust performance by The Karate Kid. Sony’s reboot of the 1984 classic took in an estimated $18.8 million on Friday from its 3,663 locations – nearly double the studio’s most optimistic estimates. That means that, with a nice Saturday bump, the solidly-PG flick is looking at a weekend total as high as $55 million. The forecast is not quite as sunny for the week’s other revamped release – The A-Team. The TV retread rolled out on Friday, picking up an estimated $9.5 million from 3,535 theatres. With a three day estimate of only $28 million projected, Fox may want to start looking into their “Plan B” right about now. Oh right. There is no Plan B. Full weekend details when you check back tomorrow.

“Get ‘em in a body bag, Johnny!” is probably the greatest ADR line in cinema history. It comes from The Karate Kid, the 1984 film that transposed a Rocky sensibility to young adults and kicking people in the face. The film was so successful it spawned a franchise and now a reboot. At the time, the story of Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and his teacher Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) was a phenomenon in that it was a legitimate word of mouth hit and it’s easy to see why. The first sequel capitalized well on that goodwill, delivering a similar but different take on the first film. After that, not so much, but my review of The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II on Blu-ray after the jump.

Sony has released three clips from the remake of The Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.  I saw the world premiere of The Karate Kid at ShoWest and while I didn’t love the film, I still think it’s going to be a huge movie for Sony and one of the bigger films of the summer.   If you’d like to watch the video blog I did with Peter from Slashfilm after seeing the film, click here.  Otherwise, hit the jump for the clips and the synopsis.  The Karate Kid gets released June 11th.

New posters for The Last Airbender, The Karate Kid and Shrek The Final Chapter hit the net today and we’ve gathered them all in one place.  While I’m a bit nervous about M. Night Shyamalan’s Last Airbender as it’s been awhile since I’ve liked one of his movies, credit must be given to whoever designed these new posters as they’re very cool.   If you haven’t heard, Paramount recently announced Airbender would be released in 3D.  I’m hoping the post conversion process has gotten better since Clash of the Titans.  But I doubt it.

Hit the jump for more:

Sony has released a bunch of new high resolution images from some of their big summer movies.  Included in the bunch are Salt (starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andre Braugher), The Karate Kid (starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson) and Eat Pray Love – which stars Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem.  Hit the jump for detailed synopses and tons of high resolution images.

Sony has released a new Karate Kid featurette that features Director Harald Zwart, Jaden Smith, and Jackie Chan talking about the story of the movie.  It’s the kind of featurette that’s great for people that don’t know the premise of The Karate Kid, but for anyone that’s seen the original movie or the trailer for the new film, you won’t learn anything you didn’t know.

I saw the world premiere of The Karate Kid at ShoWest.  While I didn’t love the film, I still think it’s going to be a huge movie for Sony as the generation it’s going for won’t have seen the original and the story will be new for them.  For more than that, read or watch my video review here.  Hit the jump for the featurette.  The Karate Kid gets released June 11th.

Just an hour ago I got out of the world premiere of The Karate Kid remake at Showest.  Starring Jaden Smith as the new kid that needs training and Jackie Chan as the Mr. Miyagi character,  the movie is Sony’s big release this June.  While I didn’t think the movie needed to be remade, I’ll admit to getting excited for the film based on the last trailer.  So did the film work?  Is it a waste of time? Hit the jump for an answer.

Last night while walking around Showest at 2am, I walked by the Le Theatre De Arts at the Paris Hotel while Sony was setting up their display for the world premiere of The Karate Kid.  The studio is premiering the film for movie theater owners and operators in a few hours.  While most studios show a poster or two outside the theater before you walk in, Sony spent some serious money and time getting the outside ready.  I’m going to the premiere, so expect a video blog recap later today.  Until then, check out the images after the jump.  Also, since they don’t allow cameras inside the theater, this will probably be your only way to see these images.

In a few days ShoWest starts up in Las Vegas.  If you haven’t heard of ShoWest, it’s a convention for theater owners and operators to see what’s new in their industry and be wined and dined by the Hollywood Studios. Basically, it’s Comic-Con for the people that make big decisions in the movie industry.

But the other reason ShoWest is cool is the studios send tons of movie posters and theater standees to the convention to pimp what they have coming.  And while the convention doesn’t begin till Monday, a friend of the site was there tonight and was able to snap a number of photos of what’s already on display.  So hit the jump for the posters for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Little Fockers, Get Low, Beastly, Charlie St. Cloud, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, a 75th Anniversary 20th Century Fox poster, Ramona and Beezus, Mercy, The A-Team, The Losers, Toy Story 3 and theater standees for Kick-Ass, Nightmare on Elm Street, Clash of the Titans, and a lot more!

Sony has released 8 new images from The Karate Kid and you can check them out in high resolution after the jump.  Starring Jackie Chan as the Mr. Miyagi character and Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son) as the kid who needs help, the film looks to make serious coin this summer as the test screenings have been through the roof.  The buzz I’m hearing is the film works on all levels.  While we all know the plot:

Kid moves to new city, tries to fit in, meets cute girl, gets beat up by dickish martial arts student, learns karate from wise, unassuming instructor, and goes on to be the best, forever, and no one’s ever gonna bring him down.

I think more of you are going to end up watching this than you’re letting on.  Hit the jump for the images.  And thanks to Matt for that synopsis.