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Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Old 02-27-15, 08:57 PM
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Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

http://deadline.com/2015/02/bruce-le...on-1201382941/


Bruce Lee, who became pound for pound the best action hero Hollywood has ever produced even though he died at age 32 when he was just getting started, is such an iconic figure that when his daughter Shannon held meetings with prospective Chinese production partners on a biopic, she was told that when it came to revered Chinese cultural heroes, her father was right up there with Confucius.

Given Hollywood’s hot pursuit of projects that can draw a vast audience in China, here’s one that might find traction. Shannon Lee, who was four when her father died but with mom Linda Lee has helped keep his legacy alive, has partnered with Last Vegas producer Lawrence Grey, Ben Everard and veteran producer Janet Yang to mount what they call the definitive biographical film on Lee. Now, you might say that everybody with a yellow belt has seen Lee’s movies, worn the T-shirts, hung the posters in their bedrooms and brained themselves trying to navigate his signature weapon, the nunchuks. And there was a feature film about his life, the 1993 Universal pic Dragon. But Shannon said there is plenty of ground uncovered, and voluminous writings by the man to fuel a new movie to enlighten a new generation to Lee’s trailblazing accomplishments and his evolution from a brawling student to a teacher of sophisticated philosophies and his own martial art form.

“There have been projects out there involving my father, but they’ve lacked a complete understanding of his philosophies and artistry,” Lee said. “They haven’t captured the essence of his beliefs in martial arts or storytelling. The only way to get audiences to understand the depth and uniqueness of my father is to generate our own material and find amazing like-minded partners to work with…many don’t know that Bruce Lee was also a prolific writer and a creator of his own unique art and philosophy. That’s what we want to show, not just his kick-ass physicality, but the depth of his character and beliefs.”

This is the latest venture from Bruce Lee Entertainment, which launched last year with several projects that include a TV series based on an original idea and materials by Bruce Lee with Fast & Furious helmer Justin Lin, and a reality based show that will be launched in China by John Wick producers Keanu Reeves and Stephen Hamel of Company Films. There is also a series of novels based on the writings that Lee left behind, a comic book series and a successful mobile game launch, Bruce Lee: Enter The Game.

Grey said they are self-financing development. “We will bring on a world class filmmaker and writer, who’ll work with Shannon and myself and then we will talk to American and foreign partners,” he said. Yang will help with the latter. “It is a tremendous privilege to be working with Shannon on these exciting ventures about her father,” Yang said. “In this age of an increasingly globalized culture, I can’t think of a more talented and innovative individual who embodies the best of East and West, and who can inspire future generations,” she said.

According to Lee, much of the focus will be the intellectual approach that Lee brought to overcoming obstacles, and forming his own martial arts style, Jeet Kune Do. Those obstacles ranged from being told not to teach the art to non-Asians, to the difficulties he had getting work onscreen despite his movie star looks and unparalleled skills. He broke ground playing the sidekick on The Green Hornet, but was denied the role he really wanted, after creating the template for the series Kung-Fu. He not only watched the lead role go to white actor David Carradine, but he also was denied credit of any kind. There were just simply no Asians carrying series or movies. Lee was finally convinced by his close friend and student James Coburn to return to Hong Kong and make movies there. It was perhaps the best advice he ever got because he became a global star overnight.

“It’s hard to imagine it now, but when he made those films with Golden Harvest, they filmed without sound, and added that later, based on whatever language they were catering to,” Lee said. “The city was very noisy and it was just easier.” After early Lee films The Big Boss and Fist of Fury became hits, Warner Bros partnered with Golden Harvest to make the epic Enter The Dragon, the first one of his Lee’s filmed with sound. It was an outsized success, but Lee died not long after, while filming Game Of Death.

“In hundreds of years, how many people created their own martial art, something he used to break tradition because he believed in humanity and that the world was one brotherhood,” Lee said. “His approach to business an nutrition was revolutionary, mixing Eastern and Western philosophies. My father wrote thousands of pages of thoughts on his life. They based Dragon on a book my mom wrote in the 70s, but they didn’t work in partnership with us to create that film and it didn’t have the depth or essence of my father that it might have. There is a lot that hasn’t been told yet, and many lessons that deserve to live on.”

As for China, the pump was primed by The Legend Of Bruce Lee, a Mandarin language TV series that spanned 50 one hour episodes. Bruce Lee Entertainment is being repped by UTA.

I hope they hire John Little in some capacity to work on this. He did outstanding work on that Bruce Lee documentary years ago.


Shannon Lee announced the news also on Lee's official Facebook page. Glad the family is supporting this.

https://www.facebook.com/BruceLee
Old 02-27-15, 09:25 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Didn't the family also support Dragon? What a fucking joke of that man's life. Linda Lee, man. She sure as hell didin't give a fuck about it at that point. Hopefully they make a much more truthful take on Bruce Lee's life cuz he was a really interesting guy that Dragon dumbed down to wild proportions.
Old 02-28-15, 03:01 AM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

I'd still recommend Dragon for the film score alone.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cHthbtSbGLM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Old 02-28-15, 04:58 AM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

I hope we get Donnie Yen in the role and this ends up being Ip Man III: Enter Bruce Lee.
Old 02-28-15, 08:57 AM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Ive the hugest, i mean the hugest Bruce Lee fan, but man there have been a lot of Bruce Lee documentarys and biopics over the years

What about the 50 episode chinese tv series Legend of Bruce lee made in 2008 ?

well it needs to be made before Dan Inosanto dies, he is the only way who can give true insight to the martial arts side of Bruce
Old 02-28-15, 09:53 AM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by Original Desmond
Ive the hugest, i mean the hugest Bruce Lee fan, but man there have been a lot of Bruce Lee documentarys and biopics over the years

What about the 50 episode chinese tv series Legend of Bruce lee made in 2008 ?

well it needs to be made before Dan Inosanto dies, he is the only way who can give true insight to the martial arts side of Bruce
Don`t bother with the TV series. The drama itself was decent but the fight choreography was straight up stupid. If they had stuck to the traditional Wing Chun and JKD concepts he was developing it would have been decent. The wire fu and stunts they used just didn`t fit. Things Bruce laughed at.
Old 02-28-15, 10:03 AM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by DJariya

I hope they hire John Little in some capacity to work on this. He did outstanding work on that Bruce Lee documentary years ago.


Shannon Lee announced the news also on Lee's official Facebook page. Glad the family is supporting this.
Never going to happen. After Shannon took control of Bruce Lee Enterprises from her mom; there was a falling out between Little an Shannon. Rumours are she is a total bitch. Same for Inosanto...he doesn`t want anything to do with BL E. It`s the reason he passed doing the voice dub for WJ and did the Japanese Bruce Lee in G.o.D. instead.
Old 02-28-15, 12:04 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

what?
Old 02-28-15, 12:51 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by Solid Snake
what?
Inosanto is the only real successor to Bruce Lee.He is the only student certified to teach JKD. Bruce's best friend and student Taky Kimura isn't even certified. JKD itself is an anomoly since it really isn't an artform in itself. It is whatever you want it to be. Bruce regretted giving it a name because he wanted it to remain fluid and evolving. He didnt want it to become a dogma and static like every other art.This is basically what it became and to the uninformed it is an art but it isn't and people don't get that. Inosanto wants to preserve this and Shannon did not.

She even went as far as certifying shit Bruce didn't wear. The Tiger Mexico yellow and black shoes that were supposedly replicas from the G.o.D. is incorrect but obviously the stupid fans ate it up even though Bruce never wore them in G.o.D. Same company but totally different model shoe but she didn't give a shit;she got paid.

I know it's all about money with BLE but at least get your shit right.
Old 02-28-15, 08:58 PM
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Wasn't JKD still evolving when Bruce died?
Old 02-28-15, 10:04 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
Wasn't JKD still evolving when Bruce died?
Yeah but quite a few people started teaching it. Supposedly they all learned from BL and started to teach it as an "art". There was a huge controversy in the 70's if any of these so called JKD teachers were authentic. Most if not all were fake.
Old 02-28-15, 10:04 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by Solid Snake
Didn't the family also support Dragon? What a fucking joke of that man's life. Linda Lee, man. She sure as hell didin't give a fuck about it at that point. Hopefully they make a much more truthful take on Bruce Lee's life cuz he was a really interesting guy that Dragon dumbed down to wild proportions.
I thought Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was a fun movie, despite being majorly inaccurate with regard to Lee's actual life. "The Demon" part of the film was totally fabricated and yet it made for some great scenes, particularly the one where he dreams about his own death and sees the Demon going after Brandon.

I would have definitely preferred to have a film that was an accurate depiction of his life since, like you said, he was such an interesting guy. But will BL E allow a scene where Bruce Lee is smoking pot wit his mistress right before he dies? I think films about real people are more interesting when they can be honest and not hagiographic.

Did Bruce Lee Enterprises have any input or control over that Bruce Lee biopic that came out some years back?
Old 02-28-15, 10:15 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Another aspect of Bruce's life that hasn't been really told was that he allegedly was cheating on Linda and seeing an actress named Betty Ting Pei.

If Bruce and Linda were having problems in their marriage back then, I wonder if a writer would be allowed to accurately portray that. When Bruce died, he was supposedly in Ms. Ting's place when he started having the headaches and then took his final nap.
Old 02-28-15, 10:24 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

The truth about Bruce is a lot more interesting than this bullshit superhero they try to make him out be. He was a very flawed individual. He smoked weed, used steroids and fucked hella bitches. Shit no one wants to hear.
Old 02-28-15, 10:31 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by mrhan
The truth about Bruce is a lot more interesting than this bullshit superhero they try to make him out be. He was a very flawed individual.
Yup. But probably at the time they didn't know how to make it interesting or market it, which is why Dragon feels almost like an action film in parts. I completely forgot that Dragon ignored Bruce's acting career when he was a kid. Going back to what Solid Snake said about Dragon being a joke, I might have to agree in the way they portrayed Bruce. Jason Scott Lee was good for what the producers were going for, but his performance and the dialogue makes him sound like a big kid, instead of the deep, philosophical guy he was, as well as charismatic. Just watch his old interviews and then watch the performance in Dragon. "Dumbed down" is definitely what it was.

Last edited by brayzie; 02-28-15 at 10:41 PM.
Old 02-28-15, 10:40 PM
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Originally Posted by brayzie
Yup. But probably at the time they didn't know how to make it interesting, which is why Dragon feels almost like an action film in parts. I completely forgot that Dragon ignored Bruce's acting career when he was a kid. Going back to what Solid Snake said about Dragon being a joke, I might have to agree in the way they portrayed Bruce. Jason Scott Lee was good for what the producers were going for, but his performance and the dialogue makes him sound like a big kid, instead of the deep, philosophical guy he was, as well as charismatic. Just watch his old interviews and then watch the performance in Dragon. "Dumbed down" is definitely what it was.
I don't know if The Lost Interview was ever released here in the U.S. on DVD. It was his only English interview and it does show what you described and not the character portrayed in Dragon.
Old 02-28-15, 11:38 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Fun fact: Me and Bruce Lee share the same birthday, and he died the year I was born.
Old 03-01-15, 05:25 PM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Originally Posted by DJariya
Another aspect of Bruce's life that hasn't been really told was that he allegedly was cheating on Linda and seeing an actress named Betty Ting Pei.

If Bruce and Linda were having problems in their marriage back then, I wonder if a writer would be allowed to accurately portray that. When Bruce died, he was supposedly in Ms. Ting's place when he started having the headaches and then took his final nap.
This is all pretty well known and has been since, ummm...1973?
Old 03-02-15, 08:39 AM
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id actually like to see this movie stretch to cover Brandon Lee's life as well
Old 03-03-15, 12:05 AM
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If nothing else, this can serve as another depressing reminder that 99% of Hong Kong cinema is still poorly represented on DVD and Blu-ray, and that the situation shows no signs of improving . God, it sucks!

I wonder what commercial potential this has? Though Bruce is probably the most famous martial arts star there is, would think kind of thing play to younger audiences? I would think that a biopic would be more about his life and cultural and social impact than fight scenes, and that'd probably be a hard sell for a studio.
Old 03-03-15, 12:05 AM
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Originally Posted by mrhan
Yeah but quite a few people started teaching it. Supposedly they all learned from BL and started to teach it as an "art". There was a huge controversy in the 70's if any of these so called JKD teachers were authentic. Most if not all were fake.
Did anyone besides Inosanto have his blessing to teach it?
Old 03-03-15, 05:59 AM
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Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138
Did anyone besides Inosanto have his blessing to teach it?
I know Ted Wong, Taki Kimura and several others of Bruce's students were certified by Inosanto after Bruce passed. Funny thing is Bruce asked these guys to close his schools down before he died. I think if he had lived JKD would just be another footnote to something he was working on that was never truly realized.
Old 03-03-15, 08:32 AM
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if Bruce Lee were still alive, from what i know about how he thought, i reckon as well as the constant evolution of his unarmed combat techniques, he would have also learnt to become a firearms expert

Everyone talks about the baddest man on the planet or how a ufc fighter is the best fighter, fact is the deadliest warrior is someone who is an expert with guns and other weapons and how to always ensure (law willing) you have one on hand at all times in your life.
Old 03-03-15, 10:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Original Desmond
if Bruce Lee were still alive, from what i know about how he thought, i reckon as well as the constant evolution of his unarmed combat techniques, he would have also learnt to become a firearms expert

Everyone talks about the baddest man on the planet or how a ufc fighter is the best fighter, fact is the deadliest warrior is someone who is an expert with guns and other weapons and how to always ensure (law willing) you have one on hand at all times in your life.
In the Lost Interview he does mention guns. He said something to the effect that no matter how an expert you are at any kind of fighting; nothing works against a gun. The complete video is below. It's more entertaining than any doc that's out there.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MseMobwg_mo?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Old 03-03-15, 10:41 AM
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re: Bruce Lee (D: Ang Lee) S: Mason Lee

Yeah. That interview was really good.

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