Just like that, 'Warrior' wins second season

SCREEN CAPTURE / WARRIOR

Andrew Koji is the lead role in 'Warrior,'  the Bruce Lee-inspired action series.

ASAM NEWS

After just three episodes, Cinemax has given the green light to Warrior for a second season, Deadline reported
The show from director Justin Lin and Banshee co-creator Jonathan Tropper is inspired by the late Bruce Lee, whose dream for the program died when his life was cut short.

The story is based on writings of the martial arts legend and pushed forward by his daughter, Shannon Lee.

“Bruce Lee’s vision is alive and well,” said Len Amato, president of HBO Films. “Warrior combines high-energy martial arts with wit and brains. We’re thrilled to renew such a great show for a second season on Cinemax.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a renewal after just three episodes is extremely quick. 

Warrior is set around the tong wars in Chinatown in the late 1800s. It's cast is dominated by Asian actors, that include Andrew Koji, Jason Tobin, Olivia Cheng and Dianne Doan.

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TGIF Feature: First reviews are in for Bruce Lee inspired 'Warrior'

The cast of 'Warrior'

Warrior, the television story that legendary martial artist Bruce Lee originally pitched to TV studios only to be turned down, will premiere tonight (April 5), on the Cinemax Network, 10 p.m. ET/PT.

The first reviews are in from critics who were given advance looks at the 6-episode season. The story is based in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1800s and stars a largely British Asian and Asian American cast.

(To read the complete review, click on the links.)

ROLLING STONE: A Bruce Lee vision brought to vivid life

The bushy period mustaches that many of the Irish and WASP characters wear obscure their mouths enough to occasionally create the illusion that they’re the ones speaking a foreign language and having their dialogue dubbed into English for the local marketplace. Whether intentional or not, it’s a nifty role reversal.

“These are strange fucking times,” Father Jun suggests. “The ducks think we’re less than human. We can’t own, we can’t vote, and yet somehow, we’re responsible for the economic woes of their entire nation.” (Editor's Note: In Warrior, Chinese refer to white people as "ducks.")

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: TV review

The martial arts will, of course, be the facet attracting the most general audience curiosity and the fights, from choreographer Brett Chan, aren't outsized wuxia-style fits of whimsy and exaggeration, nor laced with humor in the Jackie Chan vein. They're athletic and effective and take advantage whenever possible of what the actors are capable of doing with limited slo-motion embellishment or editing. They're also character-driven, so there's a smooth efficiency to Ah Sahm's fighting, a frenzied mania to Young Jun's attacks and when The Raid veteran Taslim gets going, that's when the show truly hums. There's a strong contrast between the fighting coming out of Chinatown and the brutal, bare-knuckle boxing that settles matters on the Irish side of town.

IGN: Series premiere review for new Bruce Lee martial arts drama

Fans of action won’t want to miss this energetic (if occasionally repetitive) series, which delves into a rough and colorful slice of American history with verve, intelligence, and memorable fists of fury.

TV GUIDE: Cinemax 's martial arts drama is typical Cinemax (For better or worse)

Second, the cast of the series, which is also executive-produced by Justin Lin(The Fast and the Furious franchise) and Shannon Lee, the daughter of Bruce Lee, is predominantly made up of Asians or Asian Americans actors. Representation in Hollywood, especially for the Asian community, remains limited, and Warrior is a show that works to elevate the Asian voices at the center of its story. The white supporting players appear not just dull in comparison, but sometimes feel like they exist in a different show. Between the all-too-familiar scheming of corrupt politicians, the young, pretty wife who can't stand the awful husband she married to save her family, and the drunk policemen with gambling addictions, the white men and women of Warrior are nothing we haven't seen before, and Warrior doesn't do much to add to their stories. Which is honestly fine in this instance; they're not the stars of the show.

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Ode to Bruce Lee: 'Warrior' hopefully makes up for 'Kung Fu'

WARRIOR

Actor Andrew Koji plays lead character Ah Sahm in the upcoming television series 'Warrior/'

Little known fact: I once auditioned for Kung Fu, the TV series starring David Carradine.

In 1975, I still had dreams of becoming a screenwriter. I had a writing agent and submitted several ideas for Streets of San Francisco, which was also filming in the city at the time, and other projects -- all with Asian themes.

I didn't consider myself an actor and I make not claims to having any acting talent. I had no formal training (although I did attend the first class conducted by actor Rene Auberjunois which I promptly dropped at Cal) and only appeared in one movie because I was a friend of the director.

Kung Fu was in its third season and apparently, had used up all the known Asian American actors in Hollywood and was in search for new faces. 

My writing agent suggested to the Kung Fu talent scout that he see me. He knew I had some martial arts training and had an 8X10 headshot of me, just in case I sold a script and hit it big. Yeah, we both had high hopes back then.

The auditions were being held in my agent's agency's office, so I trekked my way into San Francisco.

I let the secretary know I was there for the audition. Mind you I had never auditioned for anything in my life. I fancied myself a writer. Being young and naive, I said to myself, "What the hell."

The search for new faces, apparently wasn't going too well, I surmised since I was the only "actor" there for the audition.

Finally, I went in and met the talent scout. He was friendly enough: broad smile, firm handshake and with the upbeat air you'd expect from Hollywood  He handed me a page of a script and asked me to read some lines with him reading the other parts.

I did the best I could, but I knew I was not "feeling" it.

The scout said, "Great, great. That was very good," in an attempt to get me over my nervousness and put me at ease. I thank him for that.

But then, he said, "Can you say the ilnes again with an accent?"

What? The only accent I knew how to imitate was a Filipino accent since I grew up with a community of Filipino American elders, mostly World War II veterans.

I knew what he wanted though. He wanted me to either use a sing-song accent, or a strong, clipped accent like the one used by the Asian American actors that appeared in the Kung Fu series that took place in the American West in the late 1800s.

I opted to imitate the strange accent used by David Carradine, the star of the Bruce Lee-inspired series.

I closed my eyes, imagining myself as the Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine. I went for it.

I knew I had blown the audition despite the enthusiastic scout's encouraging words ending with the dreaded, "You'll hear from us."

As expected, I wasn't surprised I never again heard from the scout or the series. The TV series. Kung Fu was cancelled two months later. David Carradine claimed he had sustained too many bruises and injuries to continue. But the real reason was the ratings were down.

I write all this because Warrior, a new series inspired by martial arts legend Bruce Lee will debut this April 5 on the Cinemax network. It is about a martial arts-trained warrior who arrives in during the Tong Wars of 1800's San Francisco and will feature a predominantly Asian cast who have the acting talent that I lacked.

The story behind the story, says that Lee, who had starred as Kato, the martial artist/chauffeur of the Green Arrow, submitted a script about a Shaolin monk wandering the old West doing good deeds and kicking the hell out of bad guys. The networks rejected his idea, but lo and behold, a year later, Kung Fu was developed starring a white guy doing Yellow Face.

Warrior, is based on the notes of Bruce Lee. His daughter Shannon Lee and Asian American director Justin Lin are among the executive producers.

Ironically, while the white actors in the new series will speak English appropriate to the time period, the Asian actors will speak English with a contemporary tone -- an apparent nod to the show's producers and the #NoWhiteWashing and #NoYellowface movements.

I harbor no resentment towards anyone associated with the old Kung Fu show, including that talent scout who auditioned me, but to them all, I can only say: "Accent? My ass!"

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Bruce Lee's 'Warrior' TV series looks awesome

Here's a first look at the official trailer for the upcoming Warrior series inspired by the notes of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee and -- I can't wait -- it looks awesome.

Set at the times of the Tong Wars in the late 1800s in San Francisco, the series follows a martial arts prodigy originating in China who moves to San Francisco and ends up becoming a hatchet man for the most powerful tong in Chinatown.

“As Warrior comes together, I can’t help but feel the pride of correcting a wrong and helping bring Bruce Lee’s dream project to life,” said director Justin Lin. “We have assembled a cast of incredible actors from all over the world including our talented lead, Andrew Koji, an exciting discovery out of the UK," Lin told Deadline.

“The martial arts genre a lot of times has been relegated to B-level action. And that’s not something we wanted to do. Going off of Bruce Lee’s original material, we wanted to build something that is character-driven, that has important themes and that also takes place in a part of American history that rarely gets talked about. That to me makes it something you haven’t seen before.”

From what we've seen, the martial arts action could rival that of Into the Badlands, which takes place in a dystopian future of America and stars Daniel Wu.

The premiere on the Cinemax network is set for April 5 and has initially been set for 10 episodes. Gearing up for the Warrior's premiere, Cinemax produced this great little 4-minute documentary on the iconic Bruce Lee. Enjoy!

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Bruce Lee's dream project is coming to television

Andrew Koji and Olivia Cheng will head the Warrior cast

THE LATE BRUCE LEE's idea for about a martial arts expert in the Old West is on its way to becoming a TV series thanks to Justin Lin, who has been working on the project for four years.

“As Warrior comes together, I can’t help but feel the pride of correcting a wrong and helping bring Bruce Lee’s dream project to life,” Lin said. “We have assembled a cast of incredible actors from all over the world including our talented lead, Andrew Koji, an exciting discovery out of the UK. 

Cinemax has given a 10-episode straight-to-series order to 19th century crime drama titled Warrior, according to Deadline.  Inspired by the writings and work of martial arts icon Bruce Lee, the series is slated to begin production on Oct. 22 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Warrior is described as "a gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful tongs (Chinese organized crime family)."

The cast includes Koji as Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who travels from China to San Francisco and ends up becoming a hatchet man for the most powerful tong in Chinatown; Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy, Chinatown’s most accomplished courtesan and madame; Jason Tobin as Young Jun, the hard-partying son of a powerful tong boss; Dianne Doan as Mai Ling, a beautiful and ruthless Chinese woman who, through sheer force of will, has achieved a position of power in one of the tongs.

Justin Lin

The show was developed based on handwritten notes from Bruce Lee that were brought to light by his daughter, Shannon Lee.

“As a show that proudly bears the imprimatur of Bruce Lee, it’s our intention to deliver not only explosive martial arts action – which we will – but also a powerful and complex immigration drama that is as relevant today as it was in the 1870s,” Jonathan Tropper told Deadline in a statement.

“I’ve always admired Bruce Lee for his trailblazing efforts opening doors for Asians in entertainment and beyond,” said Lin. 

Growing up as a Bruce Lee fan, I've heard the stories that the martial artist had a concept for TV that would have starred Lee. As I heard the story, Hollywood decision makers didn't think U.S. audiences would accept an Asian leading man. As the story goes, Lee's concept was intriguing enough that someone "thought up" a show starring a white actor pretending to be Asian. The result was Kung Fu starring David Carradine.

“When Shannon shared with us her father’s writings: rich with Lee’s unique philosophies on life, and through a point of view rarely depicted on screen – Danielle and I knew that Perfect Storm had to make it," said Lin. 

“The martial arts genre a lot of times has been relegated to B-level action," said Lin, who is best known for his work the Fast and Furious franchise and Star Trek Beyond movie.  "And that’s not something we wanted to do. Going off of Bruce Lee’s original material, we wanted to build something that is character-driven, that has important themes and that also takes place in a part of American history that rarely gets talked about. That to me makes it something you haven’t seen before.”

A premiere date for Warrior has not been announced, but it’s expected to launch in late 2018/early 2019.
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In the works: Two TV projects with Asian and Asian/American themes

Actress Fan Bingbing depicted Empress Wu Zetian in an earlier movie.

TWO NEW television shows with Asian or Asian/American casts are in various stages of production.

EMPRESS: New 'Game of Thrones?'

Game of Thrones producer Christopher Newman isn't waiting until that fantasy drama to end in a couple of years. He's looking at the story of Wu Zetian, China's only female empress.

Empress will tell the storied tale of the only female empress in the history of China — Wu Zetian, who ruled during the Tang dynasty (618-906 A.D.), a time of relative freedom for women. The proposed series will follow her ascent through the court of Emperor Tai Tsung; life as his favorite concubine — and ultimately her rise to power.

Newman has signed a deal with Starlight Media and K. Jam Media to develop and produce Empress, which has been commissioned as a 13-episode drama. Producers

The $70 million production is currently uncast and is set to begin in Sichuan, China, in late 2017 with a premiere eyed for 2018.

WARRIOR: Bruce Lee project

Cinemax has given a pilot order to Warrior, a crime drama based on original material written by Bruce Lee. Warrior has been a passion project for both the late martial arts icon's daughter and Fast & Furious director Justin Lin who is executive producing the pilot with an eye to direct, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the aftermath of the Civil War, Warrior tells the story of a young martial arts prodigy, newly arrived from China, who finds himself caught up in the bloody Chinatown Tong wars.

The story is based on notes left behind by the late martial artist and discovered by his daughter Shannon Lee, who also acting as a co-producer.

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