Despite his sincere, how-bad-can-an-11-year-old-fuck-it-up endorsement of new Kid Jaden Smith last week at the Slamdance Film Festival, Macchio's boyish visage cracked, steamed and melted when contemplating Jackie Chan's inheritance of Mr. Miyagi. “I don’t know,” he told MTV News:

"The thing is whether Jackie Chan gives you Jackie Chan, or if Jackie Chan does a, you know, real stretch to the character.” he explained. [...] “I think Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, with a good script, and all the moons in alignment? It could be another big fat hit.”

Poor Ralph. We'd presume that Sony is in fact counting on Chan's genre-slumming reliability to align these proverbial moons, but! Think of the moral leverage Macchio will have 25 years from now when Jaden Smith traverses his own Slamdance red carpet, second-guessing Mickey Rourke's next comeback as Knox Jolie-Pitt's sensei in another, wrestling-tinged franchise reboot.

• ‘Karate Kid’ Ralph Macchio Unsure About Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi [MTV]

· CBS's Nina Tassler told TCA she no apologies for her networks all-procedurals, all-the-time policy. About NBC's Jay Leno strip: "It's a coveted time period. The creative community was, quite frankly, shocked when they first heard about it. There's so much top-tier talent that vie for that time period every year." No offense, though, Jay. You're way up there. Fourth- or fifth-tier at least. [Variety]
· Jennifer Hudson will reemerge cautiously into the performing spotlight with a low-key, acoustic performance at a coffee house called the MOTHERFUCKING SUPER BOWL. She's singing the national anthem—we suggest you turn the volume down for "land of the free," lest the river of toxic plasma that pours out of your shattered flat-screen incinerate your nacho-munching guests. [Variety]
· CBS Films will produce its first feature, a medical drama pairing blockbuster adventurists Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford. Fraser plays a father who turns to Ford to cure his children's rare genetic disorder. Unfortunately, the search for the cure doesn't involve shrinking themselves down to enter the kids' bloodstreams in a tiny innerspace vessel, battling 3-D ants along the way. [THR]
· Paramount will produce an adaptation of Daemon, a tech-thriller bestseller about what happens when PayPal runs amok and starts banging your wife and hanging out with your best friends. (We could be wrong about that—it's just what we gathered from staring at the cover art.) [THR]

But even after a recent Chinese crackdown destroyed more than 47 million illegal publications ("including pirated DVD's," according to Variety), an exhausted government spokesman struggled to placate the West:

"In merely 20-odd years it is impossible for China to establish IPR (intellectual property rights) protection awareness similar to that of Western countries," said Yin Xintian, spokesman with the State Intellectual Property Office.

"As the country's economy expands, so does the production scale of each product. Taking all the factors into consideration, it is natural that there will be some piracy," Yin said.

There are fewer pirated DVDs circulating in China these days, though many people prefer to illegally download product or go to Internet cafés.

This sucks for us, who'd naturally planned to download the entire Summer Olympics before they're even broadcast — not just for the flexibility it gives us on vacation dates, but also for the furtive leg-up we'd have in Gawker Media's ultra-competitive Olympic wagering pools. We hope Chinese pirates media minds find a solution that works conveniently for everyone involved.

• China Takes Piracy Steps [Variety]
• Jackie Chan Billboard to Fight Piracy [Variety]

[Chart via Digital Variety]

• Traffic clears for 'Rush Hour' [Var]

Chan is currently filming the third instalment of the "Rush Hour" action-comedy series, and co-ordinates the action sequences. He said he appreciates director Brett Ratner's input during action-scene filming.

"Even though Brett doesn't know much about directing action, he does notice details that help us improve the scene. I appreciate his attentiveness when we shoot action scenes and his feedback," Chan said.

While it was certainly considerate of him to offer some token, kind words about Ratner's cinematic gifts, we wouldn't be surprised to hear that Chan quickly loses his conveniently tenuous grasp on English the moment the director tries to offer a suggestion any more significant than one concerning the conspicuous placement of a hot extra he's promised some camera time in exchange for her number. [Ed.note—Jesus, the guy's in one Page Six item about having his assistant help him try to boink extras, and you never let him live it down!]

Bonus! A reader shares a recent chance encounter with the Rush Hour collaborators, which may or may not shed additional light on their creative dynamic:

I work at The Culver Studios, home to the highly anticipated (by who, I'm not sure) production of Rush Hour 3. [Monday], on my way to the other end of the lot, I had the pleasure of walking behind Jackie Chan and Brett Ratner most of the way. Jackie was in one of the edit bays probably watching himself flip off a ladder or attempting to speak English, Brett was waiting for him outside. Mr. Ratner was dressed in a full, green track suit...it looked like it was made of velvet or velour, must have been his formal track suit. He was looking pudgier and greasier than ever. Jackie was wearing a dress shirt and tie, looking very professional.

All I could really get from their conversation was Brett explaining to Jackie about how the scene he just watched was incomplete and needed some visual effects work. The most notable part of the encounter was watching Brett walk next to Jackie, basically shoulder to shoulder. I've never seen two people walk so close to each other. On more than one occasion Brett wrapped his arm around the inside of Jackie's and grabbed onto his arm, prom date style. It was very awkward.

In light of Chan's aforementioned appraisal of Ratner's action-directing ability, maybe what our operative witnessed was Ratner dropping by to see how his actor's rough cut of the movie was coming along, and, after tricking Chan into briefly stepping away from an edit bay with the mention of an "emergency," finally found a chance to pepper him with notes about how much better the scene will play if Chan would just let him have some exploding CGI French cops added in during post-production.

[Photo: Getty Images]

• Jackie Chan has newfound respect for dramatic directors doing action films [Breitbart]

• Report: Drunken Jackie Chan Disrupts Show [AP]

Tucker will earn $20 million against 20% of gross, and his deal comes with a second-picture commitment for the same salary on a film to be determined later. Thesp has given up script approval as long as the final draft matches what Nathanson pitched.

Chan will get around $15 million against 15% of gross, but he will also own the film's distribution rights in China and Hong Kong.

Ratner will get a spike on the upfront part of the $5 million-against-5% gross deal he had on "Rush Hour 2.

Ratner's piece might look tiny compared to his stars', but we suspect that fresh off ruining reimagining the X-Men franchise, he'll be thrilled to return to his comfort zone, narrowly avoiding a fallback career shooting ladies' footwear.

• Third 'Hour' starts clock [Variety]
• Brett Ratner To Photograph Flaming Pile Of Expensive Shoes [Defamer]