george nolfi

BIRTH OF THE DRAGON Sticks To Its Story In The Newest Trailer

With an August 25 release in tow for director George Nolfi’s hotly-contested martial arts action drama, Birth Of The Dragon, the marketing is moving in hard and heavy in its remaining days. As such, and if you’ve been keeping up, that means targeting the exact audience the film is now aiming for in the wake of critical feedback from earlier screenings. That means keeping things stirring as much as they can with at least two posters circulating online – one which you can view just below Tuesday’s newest trailer for the film from WWE Studios and BH Tilt which definitely goes for the base some. Whether or not it works remains to be seen, but Nolfi’s since changed his tone on the matter suggestively pushing for what he hopes martial arts fans will see as a fun kung fu flick, which is unfortunate for folks hoping for something more organic. […]

BIRTH OF THE DRAGON: Phillip Ng Unleashes A Beat Down In A New Clip

Lee B. Golden III

I’m pretty certain director George Nolfi least expected to poke the hornet’s nest going into 2017 with his latest Bruce Lee biopic, Birth Of The Dragon. However, I half-digress, as Nolfi told Netshark in an article just short of a week ago that his intention was to simply a fun kung fu movie akin to that of the seemingly folkloric franchise workup of the title role of Ip Man portrayed by action star Donnie Yen. Personally, being an Ip fan, I would have been okay with that were it not for the fact that Groundswell Productions had been pushing it as a film based on a real-world event long before cameras were rolling, and now with the film’s star, actor and martial artist Phillip Ng, expressing his own wish to do the late film and martial arts legend justice. Needless to say, messaging made all the difference here and the […]

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BIRTH OF THE DRAGON: Catch The Official U.S. Trailer For The New Bruce Lee Biopic

Lee B. Golden III

Whether you go into director George Nolfi’s new movie, Birth Of The Dragon, for its martial arts action or any historical substance you can scrape, if past reviews and reactions have anything to say for it, its unlikely the film will be as fulfilling in its delivery. The film was assailed by critics after debuting in Toronto late last year and even moreso when the film’s trailer arrived introducing what some feel is a tone-deaf transposition to film based on the legendary contest between two iconic athletes, one of whom would soon ascend to greatness in the years ahead. That moment was the very fight between fledgeling action film hero Bruce Lee and Shaolin martial artist Wong Jack Man, etched in history as a fight between two distinct ideologies for which the outcome remains a recorded mystery to date. Front and center is American-born Hong Kong actor and martial artist […]

Like It Or Not, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON Has An Official U.S. Theatrical Summer Release Date

Lee B. Golden III

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 […]

BH Tilt, WWE Studios Pick Up Bruce Lee Biopic, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON, For U.S. Theatrical Release

Lee B. Golden III

BH Tilt Action star and actor Philip Ng’s latest, Undercover VS Undercover, is readying for market sales this year and with any luck we’ll see some footage that covers a few ends. In the meantime, fans can finally expect some more movement regarding his American debut in the lead role of director George Nolfi’s Bruce Lee biopic, Birth Of The Dragon, which premiered at TIFF last year. Word via Deadline has it that WWE Studios and Blumhouse’s BH Tilt banner have acquired the film North American theatrical release. Adapted for the screen by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson from a narrative inspired by Michael Dorgan’s 1980 Official Karate Article, “Bruce Lee’s Toughest Fight”, and action sequences stylized by Corey Yuen, Ng stars as the late film legend who, while in his heyday as an aspring teacher and film star, takes in Steve McKee – played by Billy Magnussen – […]

Shannon Lee Responds To BIRTH OF THE DRAGON, Calls It A ‘Travesty’, ‘Inaccurate’ And ‘Insulting’

Lee B. Golden III

I think it’s safe to say you know your movie sucks when you not only screw the rights holders whose name and content you base your unsanctioned film on, but when said rights holders join the chorus of critics panning your movie from literally every angle of the internet. That is the level of achievement you have reached if your name is George Nolfi and you’ve directed a film called Birth Of The Dragon, long hyped to be a hopefully legendary homage to Bruce Lee, the late founder of Jeet Kune Do and patriarch of American martial arts movie fandom. Pan over to what Lee’s own daughter, actress and CEO of Bruce Lee Enterprises, Shannon Lee, had to say about the film after watching it herself. She’s busy with several people working on advancing some of her late father’s work as we speak, in addition to a forthcoming TV series, […]

George Nolfi’s BIRTH OF THE DRAGON Lands An Extended Promo

Lee B. Golden III

To mix in any conversation about martial arts films the question of just which Bruce Lee biopic is the best to date, is an instant invite to copious amounts fanboy scream-debating and shouting. Possibly in all caps. It gets crazy and little stupid at times, even more so as we live in an age when the long late martial arts and film icon is still a popular source to conjure on-going ideas for film and television. That point gets a new stake as of this week with festival screenings now happening in Toronto for the Kylin Pictures-financed and Groundswell-produced film, Birth Of The Dragon. The film marks The Adjustment Bureau helmer George Nolfi’s sophomore turn in the director’s chair with a script by Christopher Wilkinson and Steven J. Rivele, casting actor Billy Magnussen as a newly arrived San Franciscan whose drunken stupor in front of Bruce Lee’s Wing Chun studio […]

Philip Ng To Portray Bruce Lee In BIRTH OF THE DRAGON

Lee B. Golden III

There probably aren’t a lot of actors who could emulate martial arts legend Bruce Lee in a biopic. That search is a certain adventure indeed and likely has been since announcing The Adjustment Bureau helmer director George Nolfi‘s new movie Birth Of The Dragon in 2013, until this week. ComingSoon.net reports Hong Kong action star Philip Ng star of last year’s Once Upon A Time In Shanghai and a longstanding purveyor in action genre with hats as stunt coordinator, fight choreographer and actor in films like Dragon Heat, New Police Story, Invisible Target, Zombie Fight Club, Young And Dangerous: Reloaded and the upcoming Undercover Punch And Gun, will portray the role of Lee. Opposite Ng in the role of Wong Jack Man will be The Painted Veil actor Yu Xia with a story told from the perspective of a young martial arts student in the 1960’s caught between the brewing […]

BIRTH OF THE DRAGON Begins Casting For Its Lead!

Lee B. Golden III

Martial arts cinema fans can proudly bask in the knowledge that the time-honored memory and legacy of Jeet Kune Do founder and action cinema trailblazer Bruce Lee will never be forgotten. That said, it was back in 2013 that reports cited director George Nolfi would be at the forefront of his own biographical telling of the late film star’s life in the form of Birth Of The Dragon, chronicling the events leading up to Lee’s historic confrontation with fellow martial artist Wong Jack Man. If you’ve been keeping up, you’ll know how challenging it may be for any production to possibly find an actor suitable enough to take on portraying Lee let alone the younger iteration in his mid-20’s. It’s been done before though, although the recent production of Ip Man 3D previously intended on casting a physical performer who could host a CGI-hybrid enhancement of Lee as a result […]

George Nolfi Will Direct The Next Bruce Lee Biopic, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON

Lee B. Golden III

It was back in February of last yearthat QED International and Groundswell Productions announced their backing of a new Bruce Lee biopic titled Birth Of The Dragon. The film’s announcement couldn’t have come at a better time last year as a new Bruce Lee statue was unveiled in California, in addition to a star-studded screening of Enter The Dragon at the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, and a special exhibition launched at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum attributed to the Jeet Kune Do master and martial artist 40 years after his passing. On Friday, it was officially announced that The Adjustment Bureau helmer George Nolfi will be directing the film, which will center on a story inspired by the historic closed-doors fight between Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man at a time when the Hong Kong Triads were prominent in San Francisco. Nolfi‘s writing credits also […]