Penn made his debut as one of several credited writers of the notorious 1994 blockbuster Last Action Hero, Most recently, Penn created and wrote episodes of the SyFy series Alphas.  After working on PCU and Behind Enemy Lines, he contributed to both X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand and wrote 2008's The Incredible Hulk.  In the meantime, he wrote and directed the mockumentaries Incident at Loch Ness and The Grand.  Most recently, he created the SyFy series Alphas.

According to Variety, Sony has selected Penn to rewrite this new Karate Kid sequel.  He'll be working from previous drafts by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, both of whom were hired to craft a sequel within just a few weeks of the remake's $55 million domestic opening in June two years ago.  Stars Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, and Taraji P. Henson are expected to return, but none have deals in place or have begun formal negotiations.  Same goes for director Harald Zwart.

Nothing is known about the story for the next installment.  The original 1984 film from director John G. Avildsen took place in Los Angeles, and 1986's The Karate Kid Part II took the action to Mr. Miyagi's native land of Japan.  Then the remake moved the setting to China (karate comes from Japan, which means a more appropriate title would've been The Kung-Fu Kid), so perhaps this sequel will follow the path of its predecessors and swap to America.

Once again, Jerry Weintraub will produce along with Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, and Ken Stovitz of Overbrook Entertainment.