David Leitch in talks to helm Warner Bros. 'Enter the Dragon' remake
As they say, don't shoot the messenger. But if you are averse to 'remake' or ‘reboot’ talk, you may want to skip this next story altogether - especially if you're a fan of Enter the Dragon!
Deadpool 2's David Leitch is in talks to direct Warner Bros. remake of Bruce Lee’s iconic Shaolin martial arts classic, Enter the Dragon. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. remake is still in early development, and is currently without any actors or writers attached.
Leitch, a former stunt man-turned-director has over 80 stunt credits to his name including credits as Brad Pitt’s stunt double in Fight Club, Spy Game, and Ocean’s Eleven. Leitch's next project, Universal’s "Fast and Furious" spin-off starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, is slated to begin production late August. Enter The Dragon will mark Leitch's fifth directorial feature under a five year span having co-directed John Wick with Chad Stahelski followed by his solo works Atomic Blonde and this year’s Deadpool 2.
Leitch now has the unenviable task of remaking Robert Clouse’s ground-breaking 1973 martial arts film. Enter the Dragon was added to the United States National Film Registry back in 2004 and is renowned for Lee's performance as a highly skilled martial artist who is recruited by a British intelligence agency to infiltrate a slavery and drug trafficking ring at a high-profile martial arts competition. The film features some pretty great fight sequences, including one between Lee and actor Bob Wall along with a grand finale between Lee and Shih Kien's signature baddie (& steel claw) "Han".
It's fair to say this news will be met with a bit of skepticism, mainly because Enter The Dragon is an international treasure that stars one of the few global icons whose legend continues to grow and is synonymous with the likes of Elvis and The King of Pop. As someone who is personally invested in the life and prolific film careers of Bruce and Brandon Lee, I was actually waiting for this news to break.
I’m just surprised Warner Bros. did the right thing and let this one simmer as one of the great genre contributions of the past fifty years.
For now, let’s file this one away and see if it actually comes to fruition.
