' Enter the Dragon ' Remake with a Twist..

Enter the remake..

" The Shield " executive producer Kurt Sutter will write and make his feature directorial debut with a remake of the classic 1973 film " Enter the Dragon " starring the late Bruce Lee..

Titled " Awaken the Dragon," the remake will put a noir - ish spin to the original story.. It centers on an FBI agent who hunts down a rogue Shaolin monk into the dark, violent underground world of martial arts fight clubs..

The original plot starred Lee as a martial artist who's help is enlisted by an intelligence agency wanting the goods on a crime lord.. Lee's character uses a martial arts tournament as his cover to get on the renegade's heavily guarded island..

Ok, that sounds kind of similar, but it will take place in the setting of underground fight clubs and it sounds to me like they're shooting for fight scenes reminiscent of those from Fight Club.. The goal is to make the action raw and show how brutal Shaolin kung fu can be in a fight..

" I'm a huge noir fan, and this plot lends itself to the film I want to make," Sutter said.. " 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.."

Sutter intends to cast an established American actor as the FBI agent and a fighting star / relative acting newcomer to play the monk..

Sutter is acting as consulting producer for " The Shield's " final season and is writing the FX pilot " Forever Sam Crow," set in the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs.. For the big screen, he's finishing the script for Paramount Pictures' " Inland Saints.."

Enter the Dragon was the last film Bruce Lee completed before his untimely death in July 1973.. Warner Bros. released the film nearly a month to the day later, and reaped huge sums in both the domestic and international markets ( $25 million in the U.S. and $90 million worldwide, excluding Hong Kong, and in 1973 ).. Lee's iconic position in film history spawned a notorious subgenre of cinema after his death; Brucesploitation; but this seems to be the first attempt at an official " remake.." Interestingly enough, two of the original producers of Enter the Dragon, Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller, will also produce Awaken the Dragon..

Just the fact that they're not calling the new version Enter the Dragon scores points with me.. It's way early but I'll be keeping an eye on this one..