Production is only in its ninth day for director Wilson Yip’s fifth outing with actor and action star Donnie Yen with the new film, Ip Man 3D after years of sitting in development limbo. The news was joyful, to say the least, as filming commenced well over a week ago with Pegasus Motion Pictures announcing plans to star former world heavyweight champion boxer-cum-actor Mike Tyson with Yen in addition to a CG-enhanced young rendition of martial icon, Bruce Lee, as reportedly approved by his brother, Robert Lee.
Well, it turns out we’ve hit our first snag, and it can’t be good either. THR has news that Bruce Lee Enterprises is reportedly trying to stop what it claims is the completely unauthorized use of the late Jeet Kune Do founder’s face and voice. BLE, of which daughter Shannon Lee is the CEO, has stated it has “undisputed ownership of all intellectual property rights” to the late film star and solely owns all global rights to his likeness in any capacity (i.e. name,image, likeness, persona, signature, voice, attributes, marks, logos, symbols, works, photographs and writings), despite the other Lee claiming to have intellectual rights as well.
What could be an interesting factor is that Bruce Lee’s estate is also simultaneously helping developing what it aims will be “the definitive Bruce Lee biographical film”, although that hasn’t been made clear just yet if this is related in anyway. At any rate, hopefully things go smoother from here on out between both parties, lest Ip Man 3D become a much more unceremonious exit from the genre for its leading man.
Stay tuned for more info.