Director George Nolfi’s most recent attempt at contributing to the fanfare and legacy of late martial arts star, actor and Jeet Kune Do founder Bruce Lee with Birth Of The Dragon, has been met with some of the heaviest criticisms since its TIFF premiere late last year. For this it may come to no surprise to those paying attention that the most vociferous opponent of the film to date is Lee’s own daughter, Shannon Lee who has since taken the mantle at enterprising in her father’s name, as well as advancing an authorized rival biopic of her own which is set to shoot in Malaysia this summer.
For now though, while the film may tell a different tale, there’s no love lost for actor and martial artist Phillip Ng (Invisible Target, Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, upcoming Undercover VS. Undercover). The Hong Kong-born, U.S. grown rising action star will essentially be making his American theatrical debut here in the title role. The film has since landed a distributor as of Feburary and, as of this week, will have a public jury of its own with a release date officially stamped for August 25, 2017, courtesy of OTL Releasing and BH Tilt/WWE Studios, according to Deadline. The film is written by Steven J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson who also produced with Michael London and Janice Williams for Groundswell Productions, and Kylin Pictures’s James Hong Pang and Leo Shi Young, and action sequences by Corey Yuen Kwai.
At a time when the 1960s counterculture was in full swing in San Francisco, Lee (played by Philip Ng) was a rebel of his own, teaching his own type of martial arts to non-Chinese despite his community frowning upon it. A young actor by the name of Steven McKee (Billy Magnussen) becomes a pupil of Lee’s, who in turn is fascinated by his new student’s line of work. However, kung-fu master Wong Jack Man is sent from China to stop Lee’s heretical ways, soon giving birth to a legend.
Rounding out the cast are Xia Yu in the on-screen persona of Lee’s real-life opponent Wong Jack Man, along with Jin Xing, Jingjing Qu and Simon Yin.
Stay tuned for an official trailer.