What if Rocky Balboa and Daniel LaRusso had clashed on the big screen? While on Jimmy Kimmel’s set, Ralph Macchio spoke about this improbable cross-over that could have seen the light of day.
To my right, Rocky Balboa, world heavyweight boxing champion, played by Sylvester Stallone! To my left is All-Valley Karate Tournament winner Daniel LaRusso, portrayed by Ralph Macchio!
As incredible as it may seem, this improbable on-screen meeting between the Italian Stallion and the famous Karate Kid could have taken place. Indeed, while he was passing on the set of Jimmy Kimmel to present season 5 of Cobra Kai (available on Netflix since last week), Ralph Macchio, interpreter of Daniel LaRusso, mentioned all the more or less crazy projects that had been proposed to him over the years.
Among these often implausible sequel ideas, the actor notably mentioned a return of Mr Miyagi in the form of a ghost, and a fight between the children of Daniel Larusso and Rocky.
“I was having lunch with John G. Avildsen, the excellent director of Karate Kid and Rocky (…)“so told Macchio.
“Two screenwriters who I won’t name said to us, ‘Listen! Here’s the idea! What if Rocky Balboa had a son, and you had a son? You would be from Newark and he was from Philadelphia. There would be Mickey and Miyagi that we would put together. And it would give a kind of mixture of martial arts…'”
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If such a pitch could certainly have seduced many fans, neither the director nor the actor adhered to it. It was not until 2018, 34 years after the release of the first Karate Kid, that Ralph Macchio finally agreed to get back on the tatami, conquered by the scenario of the Cobra Kai series.
Would you have liked to witness a confrontation between Rocky Balboa and Daniel LaRusso?
(Re)discover the trailer for Cobra Kai, season 5…