By Mary McSweeney Aug 10, 2007, 17:45 GMT
Tampering with a cult classic, Warner Bros. has announced they have greenlit a noir-style remake from "The Shield" exec producer Kurt Sutter.
Warner Independent Pictures has set Sutter to write and make his feature directing debut on "Awaken the Dragon."
The 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.
Variety reports that John Wells Prods. is based on the Warner lot, and Weintraub and Heller were producers of the original WB-distributed film.
Sutter tells Variety 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.
Bruce Lee was the original star, as a martial artist drafted by law enforcement to participate in a martial arts tournament and penetrate a drug smuggling operation run from the tourney host's heavily guarded island.
"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."
No casting decisions have been made yet. Sutter will look to find an unknown fight star in the role of the monk and cast an "established American actor" to play the FBI agent.
Variety reports Sutter, the consulting producer for the final season of "The Shield," is also writing the FX pilot "Forever Sam Crow," a drama set in the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Sutter has also penned the script to "Inland Saints," a Paramount Pictures drama to be directed Joel Schumacher and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
