ENTER THE DRAGON (1973): Bruce Lee’s Daughter Recalls Production Standoff on the Set

Bruce Lee’s Daughter Recalls Production Standoff on the Set of Enter the Dragon

Shannon Lee — daughter of the acclaimed actor and martial artist Bruce Lee — recently spoke at length about her father’s struggle to make his blockbuster feature Enter the Dragon back in 1973.

While working on the kung fu action flick, Bruce Lee wrote a letter to Ted Ashley — then-head of Warner Bros. — explaining his passion for his project and what he regarded as his chance to make a lasting impression on Hollywood. “You see, my obsession is to make, pardon the expression, the f—ingest action motion picture that has ever been made,” Lee wrote. The film, a massive hit that grossed more than $350 million worldwide, went on to cement his reputation as a martial arts superstar. However Lee would not live to enjoy its success, as he died one month before its release; and it was the last movie he would complete before his death.

In her new book Be Water My Friend, Shannon Lee writes, “Enter the Dragon was the dream opportunity coming true for my father — a Hollywood feature for him to star in. That said, Hollywood billed it as a double lead in case their gamble on my father didn’t pay off, and in part due to the intense prejudice and concern surrounding the xenophobia of audiences of that time. But my father didn’t worry himself with this. He knew he had the goods even if others weren’t sure. He was ready to make the absolute most of this opportunity to accomplish his goal of showing the Western world the glory of Chinese gung fu and to express himself fully in a true, on-screen representation of a Chinese man.”

The elder Lee entered into a bitter dispute with Warner Bros. over the film’s title, writing multiple letters petitioning them to replace the unimaginative name “Han’s Island” with Enter the Dragon: “Do consider carefully the title ‘Enter the Dragon.’ I really think this is a good title because ‘Enter the Dragon’ suggests the emergence of someone that is quality.”

“That ‘quality someone’ he is referring to is, of course, himself!” said Shannon Lee. “The studio finally succumbed to this request and agreed to rename the film. My father trained like he had never trained before and worked continuously on the script to make it as good as possible.”

Bruce Lee also threatened to tank the film’s production when the studio would not incorporate his desired changes into the script. “He knew that if he didn’t take a stand, he would be marginalized over and over again” Shannon Lee said. “The crew started filming what shots they could that did not involve my father, and my father stayed in our house and refused to come to set until the changes were made. The producers would come to the house to try to reason with him. They would talk to my mom, who would act as the go-between when my father was fed up and refused to entertain any more of their rationalities about why they couldn’t do what he wanted. And my father continued to put his foot down.”

Eventually the studio had no choice but to accede to Lee’s demands and incorporated his desired changes into the script. Shannon Lee added, “When I asked my mom years later if he had really been willing to lose the opportunity rather than submit to their demands, she said without hesitation, ‘You bet!'”

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