When Bruce Lee was kicking butt all over the world, he was also kicking around ideas for a TV show. Cinemax recently ordered a TV drama series inspired by an idea Bruce Lee had that was previously never produced as a TV show, Variety reports.
The series will be called Warrior and is created by Jonathan Tropper, co-creator of popular Cinemax drama Banshee. The show will be an action series following the journey of martial arts prodigy Ah Sahm as he gets mixed in with organized crime when he immigrates from China to San Francisco. It will be set in the midst of the 19th- century Tong Wars in San Francisco’s Chinatown, which saw thousands of Chinese residents leave the turbulent city. Warrior is set to get 10 episodes, with Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, serving as one of the executive producers.
The concept of the show was originally conceived by the late martial arts legend and probably would not be made into a TV show without the help of his daughter. “I was intrigued when [executive producer] Danielle [Woodrow] told me about the urban legend of his never-produced idea for a TV show and suggested we bring it to life,” executive producer Justin Lin told Variety. “Then, when Shannon shared with us her father’s writings — rich with Lee’s unique philosophies on life, and through a point of view rarely depicted on screen — Danielle and I knew that Perfect Storm [Entertainment] had to make it.”
Bruce Lee’s legacy in films is well-documented, but he has been the inspiration for some successful TV shows as well. In 2008, China Central Television produced 50 episodes of The Legend of Bruce Lee, a drama series about the great martial arts master’s life. The series was a huge success, with its final episode breaking the record for highest-rated episode on CCTV.
Cinemax’s Warrior is set to start production in Cape Town, South Africa, but no date was revealed.
