The 10-episode gritty, action-packed drama series Warrior, which debuts on Cinemax on April 5th, is based on writings from martial arts legend Bruce Lee and is set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. Former Cinemax series Warrior is getting a. new life at HBO Max.. The first thing I saw was Way of the Dragon. My brother got this video tape and brought it home and was like, “This is the guy that they’re all trying to be.” I became obsessed with Bruce. And he’s not easy to double. LIN: We did a wide cast and our casting director would show us everything, and then we’d go, “No, let’s keep going.” When I first got started, in 2002, you would have to go into the room and really fight for colorblind casting, but here we are, with a cast that’s gonna be all organically Asian and Asian American. We wanted to go look, and make sure that we challenged everybody. Our handy, extensive guide is updated weekly with all-new picks. I grew up in the ‘80s, so my relationship with Bruce Lee didn’t actually start off with Bruce Lee. I think we’re way past the point where we want to see women in shows who need to be saved. Joe might be the most extreme example of swagger, but with every character, when they find their own swagger, you feel like everybody became Bruce Lee. Jonathan Tropper, known for the Cinemax original series Banshee, is the showrunner.. LIN: When I share this story with people, they’re like, “Oh, so the main character is who Bruce Lee wanted to play.” For me, when I was in the cutting room, it wasn’t just about Andrew. Find out who's who, read news, articles and reviews, watch trailers, get career advice and so much more. So, once we had it, we didn’t want to take that lightly. Few TV shows arrive with pedigrees as distinguished as that of Warrior, which is based on the writings of cinematic legend Bruce Lee. It just became really fascinating to me. TROPPER: He’s barely in the pilot, but he plays a much bigger role, as we get into the season. Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee, Women’s MMA Star and Actress Gina Carano talks about being CANCELED, Newest Jackie Chan Film Vanguard (2020) To Open Wide In North America. So, we felt it was important to make sure that process was not taken for granted. The martial arts crime drama series “Warrior” is now moving to HBO Max and a third season is on the way. The next challenge was to hope that we could find people from around the world to move there. It was only by chance that he saw Bruce Lee on television for the first time in Way of the Dragon (1972) after having studied martial arts for a few years, but even though he watched The Big Apple Movie faithfully, he never saw another Bruce Lee movie. LEE: It was my father’s vision to portray an authentic Asian experience, so he set this in this time, in his treatment. Executive producers Justin Lin, Jonathan Tropper, and Shannon Lee preview the upcoming series. Warrior, created by Jonathan Topper, is based on the writings of Bruce Lee and takes place during the Tong Wars in 187os-era San Francisco. Shannon, how did this finally go from Bruce Lee’s writings that were stored in the garage to what we will see now, with Warrior? He claimed The Warrior, which later got it’s name changed to Kung-Fu, was his idea and Bruce had been in the running to star in the television series, but David Carradine was given the role. We met with a lot of people, and in that journey, it was very clear to us that we needed to embrace the essence of what Bruce Lee was trying to do, and part of that was finding someone to come play with us who could elevate the genre, and not just do something that’s in genre. I was a gigantic fan of, The 85 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (April 2021), Here's How Bruce Lee's Writings Became a 10-Episode Cinemax Series Called 'Warrior', More Warrior began filming in South Africa in October 2018 and the 11 episode series premiers on Cinemax beginning Friday, April 5, 2019. When it came to the action, we really took a beat from my father. There will be a moment when I’m like, “Okay, there’s a little Bruce Lee there.” The actors, when they own their character, you just feel it. This image released by Cinemax shows Andrew Koji in a scene from the drama series "Warrior." TROPPER: Shannon would call me and go, “That’s one too many. The series, set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 19th century, is based on the writings of martial arts legend Bruce Lee. His extensive TV and film acting and stunt credits include the Muay Thai flick, FB: Fighting Beat (2017), Justin Lin’s Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and he is the voice of Hien in Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood (2017). It was actually in the treatment from Bruce. JONATHAN TROPPER: I’ve been doing Chinese martial arts since about 5th or 6th grade, but I had never really seen any martial arts on TV. The show, based on the writings of Bruce Lee and created by Jonathan Tropper, previously aired on HBO sibling Cinemax. He actually came in so late that, during the pilot, we had no stunt double. He called me up and said, “Is this true? That was one less person we had to look for, which was nice. As we were building the show, we felt like it was important that he wasn’t undercut, in any way. After proving his prowess as a fighter, Sahm becomes a hit man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful organized crime families. The historical drama inspired by Bruce Lee's original … If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. There used to be this thing on Channel 5 in New York, where I grew up, called The Big Apple Movie, and I was just flipping through when they were showing what they called Return of the Dragon, but it was really Way of the Dragon, and I saw Bruce Lee, for the first time. That’s our goal, and that’s what we tried to achieve. No, the show doesn’t look to have dropped in quality at all. The network just announced they’ve renewed Warrior for a second season. Executive Producer Jonathan Tropper grew up watching The Big Apple Movie on television. Drama Series Based On The Writings Of Martial Arts Legend Bruce Lee The drama series WARRIOR will come to HBO Max for its third season, it was announced today by Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer, HBO and HBO Max. 'Warrior' is set during the Tong Wars in late 1870s San Francisco. 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