Karate Kid: Legendshas passed a majorly important box office milestone. The new movie, which is the sixth feature-length installment in the franchise, sees original protagonist Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) returning to team up with the 2010 reboot’s mentor Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) to train new student Li Fong (Ben Wang), who recently moved to New York City from Beijing.Karate Kid: Legendsreviewshave been middling, earning it a 59% Rotten Tomatoes score that marks it as the third best-reviewed of the six movies.
PerDeadline, as of Sunday morning,Karate Kid: Legendsis projected to close out its domestic opening weekend by hitting a cumulative worldwide box office gross of $47 million, having opened previously in some international territories. This makes itthe 23rd movie of 2025 to pass the $45 million milestone. This milestone is especially significant because the movie’s reported budget is $45 million (making it the most expensive installment, exceeding the 2010 reboot’s reported budget by $5 million), meaning that it has taken a very short time for it to earn that money back.
What This Means For Karate Kid: Legends
It Will Probably Turn A Profit
The fact that theKarate Kid: Legendsreleasehas already made the movie’s budget back does not mean that it is turning a profit just yet. Because movies typically need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in theaters, this means thatits estimated break-even point is most likely somewhere around $112.5 million. However, precedent shows that it could potentially reach that mark. Below, see a breakdown of how every installment in the franchise has performed at the box office:
$5 million
$90.8 million
$12.6 million
$115.1 million
$10.4 million
$38.8 million
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$15.8 million
$55.7 million
$351.8 million
$21 million
TBD
The fact that it has already made its budget back after just three days in domestic theaters most likely means thatLegendswill perform well, even though it is more expensive than the otherKarate Kidmovies. If it behaves anything likePart II(which is the highest-grossing of the original movies) or the 2010 installment (which is the highest-grossing overall,it could potentially gross $132.3 million or moreby the end of its run. While this may not be enough for it to be considered a hit, it could very well turn a tidy profit.
Our Take On The Karate Kid: Legends Milestone
Cobra Kai May Or May Not Have Helped Its Box Office
It may be surprising thatKarate Kid: Legendsis not performing better, given the fact that Daniel LaRusso was just one of the lead characters in the popularKarate Kidsequel seriesCobra Kai, which recently aired its series finale on Netflix in February. However, while the series' strong viewership did not necessarily translate into a huge rush at the box office, perhaps because audiences are now used to watching the franchise at home, it does seem to helped the movie enough for it to end up on track to become the highest-performing installment featuring Macchio.
