Last week, we reported thatthe sequelIp Man 3has cast former boxing champMike TysonalongsideDonnie Yen. The production also announced that they will use a CGI rendering ofBruce Lee, as opposed to casting an actor to play the martial arts icon. Today,The Hollywood Reporterreveals thatBruce Lee’s family is trying to stop his name, likeness and story from being used in director Wilson Yip’s movie.
2010’s Ip Man and 2011’sIp Man 2are both based on the true story of Ip Man (Donnie Yen), the martial arts master who created the style known as Wing Chun, whose most famous student wasBruce Lee. The first two movies did not featureBruce Leeas a character, focusing on Ip Man’s early years in China. The producers could not find a suitable actor to playBruce Leeon screen inIp Man 3, so they decided to create his likeness using CGI.
Bruce LeeEnterprises LLC states that it has “undisputed ownership” of all intellectual property rights related to the martial arts icon, including his name, likeness, persona, signature, voice, attributes, marks, logos, symbols, works, photographs and writings. The company toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat they were “justifiably shocked” to learn about the plans to useBruce Lee’s likeness, which is “completely unauthorized.” Here’s whatBruce LeeEnterprises' General CounselKris Stortihad to say in a statement.
“To state it in no uncertain terms, BLE intends to seek all remedies available to it to stop Pegasus from including the computer generated version ofBruce LeeinIp Man 3.”
Ip Man 3’s producers are working withBruce Lee’s brother,Robert Lee, who is serving as a consultant. Hong Kong-based Pegasus Motion Pictures, which is producing the sequel, claim thatRobert LeecontrolsBruce Lee’s intellectual property rights, butBruce LeeEnterprises is claiming that is not the case. Producer and Pegasus chairmanRaymond Wongsaid that the matter is now being handled by their lawyers, and an announcement will be made soon. Would you have liked to see a completely CGIBruce LeeinIp Man 3? Let us know what you think below.
