Report suggest Donnie Yen will play Bruce Lee

Stephen Chow damn it! Or a completely unknown actor.

Donnie's done a fair bit of Bruce related stuff in the past, actually, and he's not kidding when he says Bruce is an idol. When it comes to the martial arts end you'll be very hard pressed to find someone who can match Bruce as well as Donnie. And my guess is that the 'Hollywood experience' bit translates mostly to 'must speak fluent english', which is what would rule someone like Chow out.

Stephen Chow does speak fluent English, he did a interview with NPR and hosted some special on Comedy Central right before Kung Fu Hustle came out in North America.

Is there any Asian martial arts actor that actually has that kind of physique AND can speak good english. I think Donny Yen is the closest they are going to get.

Very unclear that Donnie is even going to do this. I believe the 'I'll have to read the script' line was uttered.

I love Donnie, but he's just not 'type' for this role. Wrong build. He's much bulkier than Bruce in the arms and chest. He did his 'Bruce' in Fist of Fury and THAT was not a good thing.

I know he admires Bruce, but probably the best way to pay tribute to Bruce, for him, would be to stay away from this project unless they want him to do some choreography and the script isn't half as horrible as 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story' was.

Show Bruce the love by letting him rest in peace and let his films show the world Bruce Lee.

Donnie Yen cannot carry a movie, this coming from someone who has just watched 'Dragon Tiger Gate'. He has ZERO screen presence whatsoever when is not performing martial arts, his non martial arts screen time is totally 'DEAD'. He makes Keanu Reeves looks like a triple Oscar winner. Besides, he is too old to play a late 20-early 30 Bruce Lee. Get some new guy who looks like Bruce and can fight.

Donnie Yen has in fact payed tribute to Bruce Lee in his past movie Fist of Fury the series but playing the great martial artist himself is another issue. I'm a huge fan of Donnie Yen but I would think they would try their best to at first look for an unknown actor before choosing Donnie Yen. I mean physical appearance aside it's still hard to see Donnie pulling it off. I think if Donnie Yen really wanted and was really dedicated he can train his body to come closer. I mean honestly it's going to be hard to find someone with a build like Bruce and knows martial arts oh yeah and can act, the guy was pure muscle at 140lbs. Also I've studied Jeet Kune Do and if they were to incorporate that into a movie it would be difficult to make it look good on screen. So to not only find a good martial artist they would have to find one that can understand JKD, either that or just pretend like he's doing it since most people won't know the difference anyways, but that would be an insult to Bruce.

Donnie Yen as Bruce. Absolutely stupid idea. As MAck said, you'd be watching Donnie play Bruce. Incredibly distracting. And at 43, he's already far too old to play Bruce who died at what 32yrs old?
I saw D.T.G. yesterday in Chinatown, Sydney. Donnie was made to look as though he was in his early 20's & had jumped out of a Canto pop videoclip. Stephen Chow is also a stupid choice. Yes, Lee's physique was far more sinewy than Yen or Chows.

An unknown, who has good a martial arts background, can speak English & can act decently.
Or they should just scrap the whole idea.

Didn't the producers say they'd search the world over until they found their perfect choice. Hardly a week has gone by & the Net is rife with rumour. Ha...

I read the original article producer Stephen Shin was interviewed in HK when he announced the project on the day of Bruce Lee's 33th death anniversary. He mentioned many names including Stephen Chow, the goalie in Shaolin Soccer, Jay Chou, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Donnie Yen and Jet Li. But he said most likely the role will be recruited outside. Donnie Yen is doing the promo round in China for DTG recently, besides his typical knocking every one down and saying his movie is the best, he also said most likely he will not be playing. Better not Fist of Fury is a nightmare.

Stephen Chow has the same physique as Bruce Lee had. Look at him in Shaolin Soccer in the scene where he first kicks ass with the football. And Chow has allot more Hollywood cloud than Donnie Yen ever has.
But in all honesty I think it should go to an unknown as someone said that we would be watching Chow or Yen in a role but not Lee.

Hi. Just wanna say that this is a horrible idea. I love Donnie, and of course Bruce, but I just don't see it either...and Stephen Chow? Pleeease! He's a mediocre actor, his comedy is terrible, also a bad choice!!! Totally against the 2. Thanks.

The goalie in Shaolin Soccer? That's not a bad idea, actually ... he looks it ...

Wow, 'Yimou', I follow all of Donnie's interviews concerning DTG and haven't found one put down or attack on anyone or anything. Don't know what you're talking about.

Here's a translation from an article posted at Donnieyen.net.

"Regarding this the hearsay,Zhen Zi Dan expresses this matter he also in the consideration, but the possibility is not big, he explicitly indicated: "Everybody knows Bruce Lee is my idol, my movie and Wugong are very much influenced by Bruce Lee. I thought who also is unable to substitute for his status, also may say is nobody can develop him.
If my real decision must develop his character, I meet the very big time and was determined prepares, but now I thought I have not prepared for such.

Much less also will have to photograph next year "Dragon Tiger gate" the sequel.""
--Dalian Evening News

So, rest easy he's not doing it.

Let's not make this a Donnie Yen bashing party, I mean the guy was considered for the roll he didn't beg for it believing he was the best choice. Plus Donnie Yen has the utmost respect for Bruce on top of that and I believe he would not do anything to disrespect the man. And I totally agree with Mimi, Donnie Yen has never put down other people's work. The closes I've ever read is when he said he thought the fight scenes in the Matrix could have been better but you can't even consider that an insult because it's true. And I'm sorry but yes I also agree with Donnie that the Matrix fighting could have been better but it was good for hollywood and I still love that movie and I'm sure any martial arts movie fanatic would agree with me.

making a serious bio-pic about bruce lee's life is a very cool idea.

the goalie in Shaolin Soccer

No kidding! Facially, the guy looks just like him. Get him in the gym and give him a speech coach... by golly, this just MIGHT work!

Who was the goalkeeper in Shaolin Soccer? He had a great look if he could pull the rest of it off. Personally I do like the idea of Stephen Chow, because from his films you can see how much he's really into philophy, both real and mythos, in the martial arts world - I think that would translate into his sincerity in the role.

Oh my god I'm sorry I love Stephen Chow as much as the next guy but him playing Bruce Lee is ridiculous. He's not even a real martial artist he only studied Wing Chun for Kung Fu Hustle and on top of that he's known as a comedian so I cannot see him pulling that off at all. People complain that Donnie Yen is too old to play Bruce Lee but Stephen Chow isn't no teenager either and in fact aren't they about the same age? Overall they should definately have screen test for these guys and look for anyone who can fit the role not just pick an actor because he's popular.

Quoc Nguyen. What the hell are you talking about? Chow has studied martial arts since he was a kid.
And before you put him down his dramatic skills just because you've never seen him do serious work don't forget Jim Carrey and Paul Giamatti who have exelled in dramatic work lately.

Alright good point there but I still can't see him as Bruce Lee I'm sorry.

Stephen Chow studies martial arts since he was a kid. so what? Lots of my friends have learnt taekwando, judo, karate in school and many of them has black belts. does that fucking mean they can fight smoothly on screen? I agree that Chow is capable of serious acting but he has never really acted in one since the early 90s pre-nonsensical comedy days. and if people complain about Donnie Yen not having a fitting physique, I don;t see that in Chow either. and all these gripes about Donnie Yen not being able to carry a movie is bullshit. none of the martial artists cum actors can act, in the true sense of the word. not even Bruce Lee. people go to watch martial arts movie for the fights and they may be attracted to a certain martial arts star because they have charisma, screen presence etc but certainly not their acting skills. get real, please!

I agree with both of you in a lot of ways. The way I look at it is people will want both packages. The movie will only be worthy if it has good acting really showing who Bruce Lee really was and how he was like. Remember Bruce Lee was a philosopher also and he expressed his philosophy through his martial arts in other words physically. Bruce Lee was not only a talker but he backed up everything by doing it. So if the actor can't express that physically then it will fail on that level. Bruce Lee was fancy in his movies but real JKD is not fancy anyone who really knows the art should be aware of that. JKD however is easier said than done plus I'm not sure if JKD can even look good on screen or rather does someone know how to make it look good on screen. I guess that will be up to the director and fight choreographer to decide.

donny yen is the first person i would of let it replace bruce lee because he grew up in boston and thats as good as anybody can get and he can kick ur ass so good

Damn. Wait til you see Donnie in the movie and you'll be left convinced.

hello bruce lee fans.
i want to audition for the part.
any leads. i've searched all over the web, yet have not come up with any contact information. please help.