Ang Lee’s upcoming biopic Bruce Lee will be a family affair as his son Mason Lee (Limbo) will portray the legendary martial artist in the film in the Sony 3000 Pictures’ feature.
Making a film about Bruce Lee has been a longtime project for the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director and his son has been physically training for the last three years, even in the midst of lockdowns, for the role. The script is being written by Dan Futterman (Foxcatcher) after previous drafts were written by Jean Castelli, Alex Law Mabel Cheung and Wells Tower.
“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 said. “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.”
Bruce Lee was a very accomplished martial artist who trained several Hollywood stars for their roles in action films and series, developing his own style of Jeet Kune Do. He starred in The Green Hornet as the titular hero’s sidekick Kato, but despite that and his success in Hong Kong martial arts films, he was never quite able to break out of the sidekick role in America due to his race. His film Enter The Dragon, which became incredibly successful and influential to an entire genre, was released just after he suddenly passed away in his sleep at the age of 32.
Bruce Lee will be produced by Ang Lee, Lawrence Grey, Shannon Lee, Ben Everard and Brian Bell, with Elizabeth Gabler and Marisa Paiva producing for Sony.
“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,” Gabler said. “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.”
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