Another Bruce Lee Bio-Pic in the Works

You might be asking what's wrong with the first Bruce Lee bio-pic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story? My answer is, not much, really. I mean, it's a bio-pic so it has its disappointments, but I thought Jason Scott Lee was good. But we're about to get another Bruce Lee movie anyway. Frankly, I'm looking forward to it because it's going to star Tony Leung, and Bruce's brother, Robert Lee, says this won't contain the many inaccuracies about Lee's life that have cropped up since his death in 1973. The project is conceived as a trilogy, which would seem entirely too self-indulgent if this weren't a Hong Kong production about one of its national treasures, even though Lee was born in San Francisco. He's like the Beatles of Hong Kong, so I don't have any problem with this in the first place and the addition of Leung (the Tony Leung from the 90s skin flick The Lover and not the Tony Leung from the Ang Lee skin flick Lust, Caution) is just the icing on the cake. Beyond what the family is doing to honor Lee's 70th birthday next November, the government in Hong Kong is establishing a Bruce Lee museum. Architects are encouraged to submit their design to transform a 5,600 square foot townhouse into a space honoring Lee and incorporating a martial arts studio, a library, and a film studio. The winning design will be unveiled in November or December, and the museum, like the first film in the series, will open next November. I've gotten into arguments about this point before, but frankly I don't know how. Next to Walt Disney, Bruce Lee is as singularly responsible for the worldwide rise of a movie genre as any actor or director who ever lived. He is synonymous with martial arts films and with martial arts in general in a way that Fred Astaire is known for dance movies. The only difference is, Fred Astaire wasn't the first Asian actor to become a global star, even if it was posthumous in Lee's case. Enter the Dragon was released less than a week after Lee died, and its success as Hollywood's first major martial arts film (and one of the 20 most profitable movies ever made) ushered in immediate acceptance of the genre. He's still regarded as the master of the form by many, even though his output was so brief. He's like James Dean or Rudolph Valentino or Kurt Cobain. With nunchucks.

Comments

[Asana]

Don't know if I'll bother with yet another bio-pic of Bruce Lee let alone a trilogy. I'll take the real McCoy as it were and watch the films and interview footage he was really a part of. This isn't to say that the bio-pic business is without merit or won't be any good it just makes me want to watch the real thing. Bruce Lee's poise, grace, charisma and talent are really unmatched even in today's martial arts stars. Sure, I've seen incredible martial arts work from a number of individuals but that's typically where it ends whereas Lee was the total package. It's so unfortunate that his life ended so early that the world didn't get to see more of him at work.

Leung's broken his left arm recently while sparring for the film so production is delayed as he recuperates.

[Get The Big Picture]

Yes. Completely. In addition to all the talent as a martial artist, Bruce Lee had "it." Jackie Chan is the only one who comes close over the long term, but he's such a different quality that it's hard to even make the comparison.

And it was the other Tony Leung that broke his arm. I could see the confusion, though, since he broke it training for a film about Bruce Lee's mentor.

[Asana]

Oops got the wrong Leung. Awful lot of Bruce Lee goings on at the moment.