An anti-bullying film, The Martial Arts Kid will open only in theatres THIS FRIDAY, September 18th, in New York and Los Angeles, which will then quickly be followed by other top markets including Chicago, Texas, Florida and Washington, DC. It’s the first release from the newly-formed Traditionz Entertainment Inc., a theatrical distributor that will specialize in martial arts films.
The Martial Arts Kid stars Don “The Dragon” Wilson, who is considered the greatest kick-boxing champion in the sport’s history and has nearly 50 acting roles to his name, and the unprecedented Cynthia Rothrock, who holds black belt rankings in six styles of martial arts and reigned for five years without a single defeat as the best female martial arts competitor of all time. Don “The Dragon” Wilson is perhaps best known for “Batman Forever,” “Say Anything,” “Red Sun Rising,” “The Last Sentinel,” “Scorpion King 4,” and he starred in two movies franchises under the “Bloodfist” and “Ring Of Fire” banners. Rothrock counts among her nearly five dozen film credits “China O’Brien,” “Sci-Fighter,” “Lady Dragon” and “Born to Justice.” Rounding out the cast is Jansen Panettiere (“The Perfect Game,” “Ice Age”), Kathryn Newton (“Paranormal Activity 4,” “Bad Teacher”), T.J. Storm (“Punisher: War Zone,” “Kickboxer Vengeance”) and Chuck Zito (“Homefront,” “Sons of Anarchy”).
The Martial Arts Kid is co-written and directed by Michael Baumgarten (“Smitty,” which he previously wrote and produced starring Academy Award winners Mira Sorvino and Louis Gossett, Jr., as well as Peter Fonda). Adam W. Marsh is the co-writer. Cheryl Wheeler and James Wilson are the producers. James Wilson is a former kickboxing promoter and Wheeler is a former kickboxing champion and has been a Hollywood stuntwoman with nearly 30 years of experience on films such as “Machete,” “Knight and Day,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Point of No Return” and “Lethal Weapon 3 and 4.” Dr. Robert Goldman and Maurice Elmalem are the executive producers.
The Martial Arts Kid is a story about a boy who learns how to stand up for himself and protect others, a fun family movie that may spark conversations on bullying and protecting others without becoming a bully yourself. A quintessential good versus evil tale that may intrigue youngsters to join marital arts, it’s a coming of age story about troubled Cleveland teen Robbie Oakes (Jansen Panettiere) who moves to Cocoa Beach, Florida to live with his Aunt Cindy (Cynthia Rothrock) and Uncle Glen (Don “The Dragon” Wilson). Upon his arrival, he meets a beautiful girl, Rina (Kathryn Newton), whose boyfriend, Bo (Matthew Ziff), has made it his personal mission to make Robbie’s life as difficult as possible. Robbie soon finds himself learning martial arts from his Aunt and Uncle to protect himself and the people he cares about.
The film recently earned five out of five Doves from the Dove Foundation, a non-profit organization that encourages and promotes family-friendly movies.