By India McCarty
Sony Pictures is getting creative to market KARATE KID: LEGENDS, using Roblox to encourage young people to show up in theaters for the movie.
“Reaching Gen Z and Alpha requires more than just traditional marketing — it takes showing up in the worlds where they play and hang out with friends. Roblox has become essential for building cultural relevance, especially in the lead-up to major theatrical releases,” Ricardo Briceno, the chief business officer at Gamefam, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Gamefam, a “leading metaverse media company for Gen Z & Alpha communities,” per its website, has been tapped by Sony to create a KARATE KID Training Simulator for Roblox. The game launches May 2, hopefully drumming up excitement for KARATE KID: LEGENDS before its May 30 premiere date.
“With KARATE KID, we have an opportunity to reintroduce an iconic franchise to a new generation of fans in a way that’s interactive, immersive and unforgettable,” Briceno added.
KARATE KID: LEGENDS sees the original movie’s star Ralph Macchio return to the franchise, as well as Jackie Chan, who appeared in the 2010 remake.
“It’s going to be exciting and current for a major motion picture, but won’t lose sight of those core themes,” Macchio told Cosmopolitan, adding, “I’m excited for what’s next.”
While introducing footage of the new movie at this year’s CinemaCon, Macchio said he was “honored to return to theaters again playing Daniel LaRusso,” per Variety.
Related: Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio to Star in New KARATE KID Movie
Macchio has been playing KARATE KID’s Daniel LaRusso in the YouTube-turned-Netflix series COBRA KAI for the past few years and teased a potential movie for that series.
“As long as it’s grounded in the heart and soul of those themes, I’m all ears. When that starts to go away, then it’s time [for the franchise to end],” he said.
Macchio continued, “I am starting to get asked that question of, What would Daniel LaRusso’s death be? I was like, Really? I’m there already? Can we wait another 10 years before that? I thought he’d be with the people he loves most surrounding him in Miyagi’s backyard paying the legacy forward of all the gifts. Or, I’ve said, maybe jumping off a cliff doing a spinning tornado kick. Obviously the spinning tornado kick is the only thing that’s made the articles.”
“But when you come in for a landing, certainly with the COBRA KAI series, you see who Daniel LaRusso is, and the person that he is, and the respect that he wants to pay forward, and that is that will be evident as well in KARATE KID: LEGENDS,” he concluded. “And as long as that’s true, I’m open to exploring all going forward.”
Sony’s out-of-the-box marketing plan for KARATE KID: LEGENDS is a creative way to get kids to theaters and ensures that a new generation of young people fall in love with the KARATE KID universe.
Read Next: THE KARATE KID Actor Talks COBRA KAI Redemption Arc: ‘What the Whole Show Is About’
- Content: +4Share:
- Content: +3