Claim: Jaden Smith is a person.

The Karate Kid is a 2010 Chinese-American martial arts drama film directed by Harald Zwart . It stars Jaden Smith , Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson in lead roles , and it was produced by Jerry Weintraub , James Lassiter , Ken Stovitz and Jaden 's parents Will and Jada . The screenplay by Christopher Murphey was from the story written by Robert Mark Kamen for the original 1984 film of the same name . Unlike the original , this remake is set in China , and features Kung Fu instead of Karate . The film 's music was composed by James Horner .   Principal photography took place in Beijing , China and filming began around July 2009 and ended on October 16 , 2009 . The Karate Kid was released theatrically worldwide on June 11 , 2010 by Sony Pictures . The Karate Kid received mixed reviews and it earned $ 359.1 million on a $ 40 million budget . The plot concerns 12-year-old Dre -LRB- Smith -RRB- from Detroit , Michigan who moves to Beijing , China with his mother -LRB- Taraji P. Henson -RRB- and runs afoul of the neighborhood bully -LRB- Zhenwei Wang -RRB- . He makes an unlikely ally in the form of an aging maintenance man , Mr. Han -LRB- Chan -RRB- , a kung fu master who teaches him the secrets of self-defense .