Considering the legacy of the star, I would think Enter the Dragon would be one of those movies that was pretty much off limits for remakes. You know, one of those films that is so set in American culture that touching it would be career suicide? Apparently not, as Variety reports that “The Shield” producer Kurt Sutter has been set up to make his feature film directing debut on Awaken the Dragon, a remake of the classic Bruce Lee movie which Sutter will also write.
At least Sutter is planning on changing the story up a little bit. The original movie made Bruce Lee’s career as a martial artist drafted by the law to participate in a martial arts tournament doubling as a cover for drug smuggling. The new movie will focus on a solo FBI agent pursuing a rogue Shaolin monk into underground martial arts fight clubs. If that story sounds similar, it’s because two movies about underground fight clubs have been in the news in the past week, one starring Channing Tatum and another with Sean Faris.
Sutter plans to make this a brutal, bloody film, more akin to Raging Bull than the more recent Asian films about mystical martial arts (he names Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as an example of what the movie won’t be). He’ll be looking for an established American actor for the lead FBI role and hopes to discover a fight star for the rogue Shaolin monk. I’d suggest looking at Jason Statham and Jet Li, but the duo are already paired together in War.
I can’t say this news is terribly exciting. Die-hard Bruce Lee fans won’t accept the movie, regardless of the plot changes. It also sounds too similar to a handful of recent green-lit movies, making me wonder if the impetus is less about making a new Enter the Dragon and more about just cashing in on the current direction Hollywood is moving. Regardless, Sutter and Awaken the Dragon have their work cut out for them.
