The battle of the ‘80s remakes was won by an actor born in 1998.

Despite featuring no actual karate and a Smith named Jaden, The Karate Kid had no problem kicking up Will Smith-esque dollars this weekend. (I’m sure it had something to do with that Justin Bieber song.).  Sony’s remake of the 1984 classic surpassed early projections by rallying to a $55.7 million finish. The film’s debut means the 11-year-old star has already managed to outperform most of his father’s films. (I Am Legend opened to $77.2 million in 2007; Hancock premiered to $62.6 million in 2008.)

Meanwhile, Fox’s reboot of The A-Team cranked out what could be considered a B-grade performance. The movie, which cost over $95 million to make (compared to Karate‘s $40 million), only rang up $25.7 million in its first three days. That’s barely above the figure Liam Neeson’s Taken earned in 2009 ($24.7 million) and nowhere near the debut Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel had with Valentine’s Day ($56.2 million).

1. The Karate Kid, Sony, $55,665,805 (avg. $15,197)
2. The A-Team, 20th Century Fox, $25,669,455 (avg. $7262)
3. Shrek Forever After, Paramount/Dreamworks, $15,770,491 (avg. $4077)
4. Get Him to the Greek, Universal, $9,942,405 (avg. $3680)
5. Killers, Lionsgate, $8,008,007 (avg. $2801)
6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Disney, $6,486,150 (avg. $2087)
7. Marmaduke, 20th Century Fox, $6,006,704 (avg. $1870)
8. Sex and the City 2, Warner Bros., $5,438,345 (avg. $1978)
9. Iron Man 2, Paramount, $4,521,206 (avg. $1961)
10. Splice, Warner Bros., $2,942,492 (avg. $1201)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)