Warner Independent Pictures has set “The Shield” executive producer Kurt Sutter to write and make his feature directing debut on Awaken the Dragon.
The noir-style remake of Enter the Dragon, the 1973 martial arts classic that made Bruce Lee a global star, will be produced by John Wells, Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller.
Sutter said he’s writing Awaken the Dragon as a contemporized drama about a lone FBI agent who pursues a rogue Shaolin monk into the bloody world of underground martial arts fight clubs.
The original film starred Lee as a martial artist who’s drafted by law enforcement to participate in a martial arts tournament and infiltrate a drug smuggling operation run from the host’s heavily guarded island.
“I’m a huge noir fan, and this plot lends itself to the film I want to make,” Sutter said. “I wanted to set it in these underground fight clubs where the action is really raw and expose the brutality of Shaolin kung fu. This will be more ‘Raging Bull’ than ‘Crouching Tiger’ in its viciousness.”
Sutter will look to discover a fight star in the role of the monk and cast an established American actor to play the FBI agent.
