Legends' Has Shortest Runtime of the Martial Arts Action Movie Franchise

Fans of the famed crane and drum techniques have known since 2023 that Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan were teaming up for a new Karate Kid movie, which has since generated a tremendous amount of excitement, particularly given that the saga’s Netflix spin-off, Cobra Kai, ended its six-season run back in February. Unfortunately, what comes next may leave the fandom quite disappointed. According to AMC Theatres, the official runtime of Karate Kid: Legends comes in at only 94 minutes.

So, should movie lovers be worried that Karate Kid: Legends clocks in at a mere 1 hour and 34 minutes? Sure, it could mean that screenwriter Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween) penned a succinct yet satisfying script. However, it could also mean that Lieber, who only has six writing credits posted to his resume, composed a tale that doesn’t develop its characters well enough. It could also indicate that some of director Jonathan Entwistle’s Karate Kid film ended up on the cutting room floor.

Ben Wang and Jackie Chan in Karate Kid Legends

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Entwistle, who developed, wrote, and directed the short-lived television series I Am Not Okay with This, doesn’t have much more experience than his Karate Kid: Legends collaborator and screenwriter, Lieber. So, when those factors are combined with a minuscule runtime for a summer movie blockbuster-hopeful, it doesn’t bode well for Macchio and Chan’s team up this May. And considering all the box office competition the movie will face, it simply can’t afford to come up flat in terms of its characters and plot.

‘Karate Kid: Legends’ Runtime Is the Shortest of All the Franchise’s Films

Sony Pictures Entertainment released a video on Nov. 21, 2023, in which Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan announced that a new Karate Kid film was embarking on a casting search to find the film’s underdog hero. Over 10,000 hopefuls tried out for the part, but the role of the movie’s protagonist, Li Fong, went to Ben Wang. Unfortunately, at only 94 minutes, the new Karate Kid adventure won’t have much time to flesh out Wang’s life and obstacles, much less wax on — oh, yeah, pun most definitely intended — poetic and notalgic about Macchio and Chan’s beloved characters.

If fans jump onto Google right now and search for Karate Kid: Legends, they’ll find the film has a listed runtime of 1 hour and 58 minutes, which contradicts AMC Theatres’ new listing of only 1 hour and 34 minutes. Did those 24 minutes get chopped, or did the internet just have the nearly two-hour runtime wrong all along? AMC’s official listings are seldom if ever wrong, so Legends holds the lowest runtime of any film in the franchise. Check out the numbers below:

Runtime for Each Film in The Karate Kid Franchise

The Karate Kid (2 hours and 6 minutes)
The Karate Kid Part II (1 hour and 53 minutes)
The Karate Kid Part III (1 hour and 53 minutes)
The Next Karate Kid (1 hour and 47 minutes)
2010’s The Karate Kid (2 hours and 20 minutes)
Karate Kid: Legends (1 hour and 34 minutes)

Karate Kid: Legends joins the 2025 box office when it drops in theaters on May 30. The Macchio and Chan-led film is tracking strongly at the time of this writing, and its long-range box office forecast is predicting the movie will make somewhere between $45 million and $58 million over its opening weekend. However, Legends will have its hands full with Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, both of which open the weekend before over the Memorial Day frame. If Karate Kid: Legends wants to crane kick its way to summer blockbuster status, and compete with the competition, it better feature the best 94 minutes possible. Otherwise, Hollywood might just sweep the legs right out from under director Jonathan Entwistle and screenwriter Rob Lieber’s respective careers.

Sources: AMC Theatres, Box Office Theory