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Director Ang Lee is set to helm a biopic of Bruce Lee, with the filmmaker's son Mason in the lead role, Deadline reports. The movie, titled Bruce Lee, will follow the tragically short life of the iconic actor and martial artist, who was born in 1940 and died in 1973. Mason Lee, one of the director's two sons, has reportedly been training for the role for the last three years.
After starting his career in the Hong Kong film industry as a child actor, Bruce Lee moved to the US in 1959, where he went to university and began teaching martial arts to make money. After relocating to LA a few years later, his students included Chuck Norris and Sharon Tate. He starred in many movies in both Hong Kong and Hollywood, including Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, and The Wrecking Crew.
Ang Lee's diverse filmography includes movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Sense and Sensibility, and Life of Pi. He has a total of 38 Oscar nominations and 12 wins to his name. Dan Futterman, the screenwriter of Capote and Foxcatcher, is penning the script.
Mason Lee has previously appeared in movies like The Hangover Part 2 and Dead Pigs, the directorial debut from Birds of Prey helmer Cathy Yan. This won't be the first time he's worked with this father, either – he's appeared in the Ang Lee movies Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and The Wedding Banquet.
"Accepted as neither fully American nor fully Chinese, Bruce Lee was a bridge between East and West who introduced Chinese Kung Fu to the world, a scientist of combat and an iconic performing artist who revolutionized both the martial arts and action cinema," the director told Deadline.
"I feel compelled to tell the story of this brilliant, unique human being who yearned for belonging, possessed tremendous power in a 135-pound-frame, and who, through tireless hard work, made impossible dreams into reality."
