Hong Kong: Bruce Lee's family plans to produce a new film on the late martial arts star - the first such movie it has actively supervised, the Chinese company making the motion picture said on Sunday.
The film, which will be jointly made by the Lee family and the Beijing Jian Yongjia film company, will be based on an upcoming biography of the late actor by Lee's brother, Lee Chun-fai, Beijing Jian Yongjia said in a statement.
"Bruce Lee died young, but stories about him haven't stopped surfacing for 30 years. A lot of them were rumours fed by rumours and exaggerated. Bruce Lee's family didn't make its opinions known because they understood people's passion about Bruce Lee," the statement said.
"As the members of the Lee family enter old age, to let people know the true story about Bruce Lee, Lee Chun-fai assumed responsibility and carefully organized materials kept by the family, writing the biography 'Bruce Lee,' a real and little-known true story," it said.
The book will debut on November 25, Bruce Lee's birthday, and Beijing Jian Yongjia will produce a series of films, TV shows and documentaries based on it, including a movie titled "Bruce Lee," it said.
It wasn't immediately clear who would be cast in the movie and how much would be budgeted for the project.
The Chinese news Web site Sina.com reported on Sunday that Hong Kong comedian Stephen Chow of "Shaolin Soccer" fame is a likely lead actor and that the film is budgeted at 100 million Chinese yuan (US$12.5 million), with filming possibly to start early next year.
Hong Kong native Lee died in 1973 at age 32 from swelling of the brain. He is known for films in which he portrayed characters that defended the Chinese and working class from oppressors.
The announcement of the film came on the 33rd anniversary of Lee's death.
The best-known biographical film on Lee is "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story," starring Jason Scott Lee, which was released in 1993.
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