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Green Hornet: The Latest Buzz
21 March 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The Green Hornet, the fictional hero who fought crime with assorted high-tech inventions first on radio, then in comic books, and later on television, is coming to the movies. Sony's Columbia Pictures announced that it had obtained the rights to the character and that he will be brought to the big screen by producer Neal Moritz (I Know What You Did Last Summer; The Fast and the Furious). Moritz said in a statement that the 1966-'67 TV series, which introduced Bruce Lee to the general U.S. public as Kato, the Green Hornet's "faithful servant," was "my favorite show as a kid." According to legend, the character of Kato was changed from Japanese to Filipino after the outbreak of World War II, but old-time radio historians say that as early as two years before the war, Kato was described as a Filipino "of Japanese descent." At least one report about the new film indicated that Kato will become a full-fledged Japanese in it.

Bruce Lee Musical To Hit Broadway
22 March 2006 (WENN)
Martial arts superstar Bruce Lee is set to be the subject of a new Broadway musical featuring music provided by David Bowie. Theatre bosses want the show to be ready to premiere in 2008. According to Variety.com, Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang has been hired to write the musical and Matthew Warchus is reportedly onboard to direct. Bowie has been linked to project because he was recently spotted chatting with Wachus in Toronto, Canada - where Warchus is poised to launch his new The Lord Of The Rings musical. The Bruce Lee musical follows hot in the footsteps of plans for a musical based on kung fu movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Bruce Lee Statue Vandalized
29 November 2005 (WENN)
A life-size bronze statue of Bruce Lee erected in the Bosnian city Mostar was vandalized only hours after being unveiled on Saturday. The life-size figure - which captures Lee in a defensive stance armed with nunchuks - was erected as both a symbolic protest against ethnic division and to mark what would have been the martial arts hero's 65th birthday on Sunday. However, by the following morning, the nunchuk's chain and one of its handles were missing and the statue was surrounded by empty wine and beer bottles. A Mostar police official says, "We have received reports that the statue has been damaged. We are currently investigating the incident." Veljo Dojcinovic, the park's keeper, blames the damage on a group of teenagers: "I heard a loud bang but I was alone and I couldn't stop them. Police should have been more agile. They know that hooligans visit this park regularly."

Bruce Lee Statue To Promote Ethnic Tolerance in Bosnia
15 September 2005 (WENN)
Martial arts legend Bruce Lee is to be immortalized in the Bosnian city Mostar after officials decided to erect a statue of him as a symbolic protest against ethnic division. The Enter The Dragon icon was chosen to be the subject for the life-sized bronze statue because he is seen as a hero people of all backgrounds. Mostar was reduced to rubble during the fierce fighting which took place in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995 as Croats, Bosnians and Serbs struggled for control of the city. When the statue is finished next year it will take pride of place in a city center park.

Hong Kong Film Awards Names Winners
28 March 2005 (StudioBriefing)
At ceremonies that featured many of Asia's top screen performers, the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards honored Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle as the best film of 2004, while the two stars of 2046, Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, won the acting awards. Derek Yee won for best director for his One Nite in Mongkok. In a night that commemorated 100 years of Chinese cinema, the late Bruce Lee was named "Chinese Film's Bright Star of the Century." The award was accepted by Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee Keasler.

Gyllenhaal for 'Green Hornet'
19 March 2004 (WENN)
Jake Gyllenhaal is favorite to take the lead role in new movie The Green Hornet, after the Donnie Darko star held talks with director Kevin Smith. The 23-year-old is wanted by Smith to portray the comic book superhero, known as mild mannered newspaper publisher Britt Reid when he's not fighting crime. The Green Hornet was made into a TV series in the sixties, which famously starred kung-fu legend Bruce Lee.

Phil Spector Arrested Following Killing
4 February 2003 (StudioBriefing)
Record producer Phil Spector, whose credits include a cameo appearance as The Connection in the classic 1969 biker flick Easy Rider and who reportedly financed Bruce Lee's last movie, Enter the Dragon, was arrested Monday on suspicion of first-degree murder after the body of 40-year-old actress Lana Clarkson was found at his mansion in Alhambra, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles. Clarkson had appeared in numerous B movies, including Roger Corman's Barbarian Queen in 1985 and its sequel, The Empress Strikes Back, in 1992. In numerous magazine articles and biographies, Spector has been portrayed as a man with a psychotic personality, who reportedly has threatened performers with a gun. He is being represented by Robert Shapiro, who gained international fame when he won acquittal for O.J. Simpson.

Thurman To Wear Bruce Lee Suit In Next Film
16 October 2001 (WENN)
Hollywood actress Uma Thurman will be high-kicking and thumping her way through new movie Kill Bill in a Bruce Lee costume. The pregnant star will wear the same suit the late kung-fu legend wore in his last movie. The upcoming film is directed by Quentin Tarantino, who says, "It was exciting, writing and thinking of Uma's physicality, those long lanky legs and that blonde hair, and her doing animal-style kung fu or using the samurai-style sword. She'll be wearing the yellow tracksuit of Bruce Lee from Game Of Death." Kill Bill is Tarantino's first film since Jackie Brown nearly four years ago. The director says he didn't want his career to go downhill after 20 years. "Most directors have a 40-year career. There's that first great 20 years, and the second 20 years, which isn't half as great," he says. "There are good movies in that last half, but also a lot of apologizing - and I want to avoid those last 20 years. I don't want to be too much of a professional, I want to keep my amateur status."

"New" Bruce Lee Movie Being Released In Japan
11 January 2001 (StudioBriefing)
Using recently discovered footage that Bruce Lee had been editing at the time of his death in 1973, a Japanese film company, Art Port Inc. has produced a new version of his last movie, Game of Death, retitled Bruce Lee in G.O.D. According to today's (Thursday) Yomiuri Shimbun, the new film contains 40 minutes featuring Lee and three other martial artists, "edited in strict accordance to an incomplete script and a series of sketches left by Lee." The original Game of Death, released in 1978, contained only 13 minutes of footage actually shot for the film. The reedited movie is set to be screened in Tokyo on Saturday and in the rest of Japan on Jan. 20.

Bruce Lee's Villa Now A Brothel
3 January 2001 (WENN)
The Hong Kong villa where Kung Fu superstar Bruce Lee lived until his mysterious death in July 1973 has been turned into a brothel. It was nicknamed the Crane's Nest by the martial arts star who died at the age of 32. The villa on the island of Cowloon is now called the Romantic Hotel. Rooms can be rented for around $30 an hour and guests find condoms already laid out on the beds while the televisions show round-the-clock porn. Although the hotel does not advertise using the star's name, many local men know that Bruce Lee lived there and say they get an extra kick out of it. The star's fan club is now trying to turn the building into a memorial To Lee

Tom Cruise's Need For Speed
24 May 2000 (WENN)
Tom Cruise's need for speed was the inspiration behind the action sequences in new movie Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). Director John Woo says the hyped-up star's high energy personality lent itself to the high speed motorcycle and car chase sequences. He explains, "He has a lot of great energy and he likes to do some crazy things. He likes speed and he likes fast. He talks fast and walks fast and he likes challenges... That gave me the idea to design some crazy action for him like the motorcycle chase." The Top Gun (1986) star also does some fancy footwork in the fighting scenes which were inspired by his love of Bruce Lee movies. The Face/Off (1997) director was surprised at Cruise's natural ability, saying, "There were quite a few shots that needed him to jump and flip in the air and kick the guys. He did it all in one shot and he did it all by himself. I never knew he was good at gymnastics. He did all of his stunts."

Welcome To Bruce Lee Territory
23 July 1998 (StudioBriefing)
To mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Bruce Lee, a 10-day exhibition of Lee memorabilia collected by members of his fan club will open in Hong Kong on Monday. Today's Hong Kong Evening Standard reported that the city's Tourist Association is helping to promote the exhibit as part of an effort to counteract the "serious downturn" in the local economy.

Movie Reviews: Mr. Nice Guy
20 March 1998 (StudioBriefing)
Reviews of Mr. Nice Guy (1997) can be summarized merely by noting that its star is Jackie Chan. Eleanor Ringel in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution comments that "the generic plot, of course, is just an excuse for a series of spectacular action sequences, " all performed by Chan himself. "Chan is Buster Keaton, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Bruce Lee all rolled into one, " she adds. Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times notes that while the movie "is a lot like a zillion other Chan films, what's amazing is how Chan's sunny personality, his graceful dexterity, plus lots of inventive stunts and action sequences keep the formula fresh." But Jack Garner in USA Today comments, "Even by the low standards of Chan films, Mr. Nice Guy isn't very good." And Stephen Rea in the Philadelphia Inquirer concludes, "Chan is getting too old for this game."

What Will Golden Harvest Harvest?
24 June 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Hong Kong's top film company, Golden Harvest Entertainment, is in negotiations with "a strategic partner" that may substantially affect the company's operations, it said in a press release today (Tuesday). The statement indicated only that Golden Harvest chairman Raymond Chow and company director Leonard Ho were involved in the negotiations. Separately Golden Harvest announced Monday that it signed a deal with South Korea's Samsung Entertainment to co-produce Enter the Eagles, starring Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee's daughter.