Smash Cut

Hell, maybe it’s the longest biopic about anyone ever. Starting on Sunday, China Central Television — the state-controlled broadcasting network of the P.R.C. — is set to air a 50-part series (yeah, count ‘em: 50 episodes!) about the life of the late martial arts legend. We’ve already had movies like Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in the States, but what makes this epic a big deal is that “The Legend of Bruce Lee” is, according to its producer, the first-ever TV or movie production in China about the superstar. Kind of amazing, isn’t it?

Hong Kong-actor Danny Chan, whom some of you may know as the main baddie from the Stephen Chow chop-socky comedy classic Kung Fu Hustle, has the unenviable task of playing Bruce Lee in the biography. Those are large shoes to fill, but Chan is a pretty startling dead ringer for Lee, so I think he can probably pull it off.

“The Legend of Bruce Lee” was shot in China, Italy, Macau, Thailand and the U.S., over a period of nine months, and cost around 50-million yuan to make (that’s roughly U.S. $7.3 million, a hefty sum by Chinese TV production standards). The exhaustively-researched series promises to trace a lot of aspects of Lee’s life right down to the most minute details, including his fear of cockroaches! When it debuts on Sunday, it’ll air every night with two episodes playing consecutively for two hours. That’s a whole lotta Lee.

Keeping in step with the gargantuan length of the series, there’s an equally epic seven-and-a-half minute long trailer for “The Legend of Bruce Lee” here. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss a guest appearance by high-kicking fan favorite Mark Dacascos.

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