Bruce Lee in 1973’s ‘Enter the Dragon.’
They could share a surname, however Ang Lee is on no account associated to Bruce Lee. Yet the director of flicks corresponding to ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘The Ice Storm’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’ clearly feels impressed by the martial arts icon.
And he’s now realizing a long-held (albeit stored quiet) plan to make a film about Bruce Lee’s rise to stardom and the obstacles he confronted in his profession. Ang has additionally discovered the particular person he needs to play Bruce – the director’s personal son, Mason.
According to Deadline, it’s all lastly coming collectively at Sony after a number of years of improvement that included Mason––who has appeared in a few of his father’s work, corresponding to ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’, but additionally ploughed his personal appearing profession––coaching by way of lockdown and past to be in preventing form.
And he’ll have to be. Lee arrived within the U.S. on the age of 18 and have become an completed trainer to actors like Steve McQueen and lots of others. He approached it like a scientist, mixing and matching one of the best qualities of all types of kinds that he melded into Jeet Kune Do.
(L to R) Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in 1972’s ‘The Way of the Dragon.’
The charismatic, good-looking Lee turned one of many first Chinese American actors to crack primetime tv when he performed the sidekick Kato in ‘The Green Hornet’, but a lot of his early profession was marked by the frustrations he endured as a trailblazer who was not content material to be a supporting participant.
The setbacks included when white actor David Carradine was tapped to play the Chinese monk in ‘Kung Fu’ over Lee in 1972—stated by some to have originated the idea—as a result of TV execs felt audiences weren’t prepared for a sequence led by an Asian actor.
And whereas he discovered big success in Hong Kong films, he died tragically younger at 32, simply earlier than ‘Enter The Dragon’ was to make him an excellent greater star within the States.
“Accepted as neither fully American nor fully Chinese, Bruce Lee was a bridge between East and West who introduced Chinese Kung Fu to the world, a scientist of combat and an iconic performing artist who revolutionized both the martial arts and action cinema,” Ang Lee tells Deadline. “I feel compelled to tell the story of this brilliant, unique human being who yearned for belonging, possessed tremendous power in a 135-pound-frame, and who, through tireless hard work, made impossible dreams into reality.” Jean Castelli, Alex Law and Mabel Cheung and Wells Tower all wrote earlier variations of the screenplay, which is now within the palms of ‘Foxcatcher’s Dan Futterman.
“Bruce Lee is a longtime passion project for Ang and a deeply emotional story depicting the triumphs and conflicts of one of the foremost real-life action heroes of our time,” Sony’s Elizabeth Gabler says in an announcement. “All of us at Sony and 3000 Pictures are proud to help Ang and his filmmaking team create what we believe will be an extraordinary theatrical event.”
(L to R) Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1972’s ‘Game of Death.’