Cinemax preps Bruce Lee’s Warrior

US cablenet Cinemax has made a straight-to-series order for a drama inspired by an idea from martial arts icon Bruce Lee and created by Banshee’s Jonathan Tropper.

Jonathan Tropper

Warrior will start filming this fall in Cape Town, South Africa and is being produced by Perfect Storm Entertainment, Tropper Ink Productions and Bruce Lee Entertainment.

Tropper, who created action series Banshee, exec produces alongside Justin Lin and Danielle Woodrow for Perfect Storm and Shannon Lee of Bruce Lee Entertainment.

The show is set during the second half of the 19th century in San Francisco’s Chinatown and follows an immigrant martial arts expert who becomes involved in organised crime.

“Warrior follows in the spirit of the tradition of adrenalised Cinemax dramas that we established with Strike Back and Banshee,” said Kary Antholis, president of HBO miniseries and Cinemax programming.

Antholis added that the show would combine “Lee’s inspired conception with the immense storytelling talents of Jonathan Tropper and Justin Lin.”

Tropper said the show would “deliver not only explosive martial arts action but also a powerful and complex immigration drama that is as relevant today as it was in the 1870s.”

Cinemax cancelled crime drama Banshee in 2015 after its fourth season.