Saturday, March 2, 2019

Cinemax's Martial Arts Series "Warrior" Based on Bruce Lee's Writings, Premieres on 6 April 2019

Rich Ting as Bolo,  Jason Tobin as Young Jun
Pic credit: HBO/ David Bloomer

Wuxia fans will now have a new martial arts action drama to indulge in. On April 6, CINEMAX will premiere “Warrior”, their first tentpole 10-episode series which is based on the writings of the one and only martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

Back in the 1970's, Bruce Lee tried to get his 8-page pitch called “The Warrior” to be produced, but at that time, the Hollywood studios were not confident that audiences would accept an Asian lead actor as the hero. Things have changed a lot in recent years, with more Asian actors leading Hollywood movies and TV shows, and gaining prominence for their work. With such a pedigree behind it, “Warrior” should prove to be a worthy a fix for those who love to watch martial arts shows.

How did the back story of how Bruce Lee's script finally came to fruition? This amazing journey from idea to TV series is now chronicled in Cinemax's 8-part docu-series, “Becoming Warrior”, and all 8 episodes are now currently available on Cinemax's Youtube Channel!


Andrew Kohji as Ah Sahm
Pic credit: HBO/ David Bloomer

“Warrior” is set during the messy and violent Tong Wars of San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 19th century. The story follows martial arts prodigy Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) from the time he steps into San Francisco as an immigrant from China, to his rising amongst the ranks to become a top hatchet man for one of the most powerful tongs (Chinese "secret societies") in Chinatown.

Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy
Pic credit: HBO/ David Bloomer

And of course, every 'respectable' Chinatown needs a good brothel, where many secrets are made and kept. One of the best madames in the district is Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng). Other colourful, dubious characters include Young Jun (Jason Tobin), a tong boss' partying son; Li Yung (Joe Taslim) a kung fu master who happens to also be a tong lieutenant; Irish copper "Big Bill" Oh'Hara (Kieran Bew), a fixer of Chinatown called Wang Chao (Hoon Lee); and Dan Leary (Dean Jagger), assumed godfather of the Irish community.  

Dean Jagger as Dan Leary
Pic credit: HBO/ David Bloomer

The trailer for “Warrior” teases a couple of gritty, high octane action scenes with kicks and punches that come in fast and furious. No wonder, the show is executive produced by Jonathan Tropper (CINEMAX’s “Banshee”) and Justin Lin (“Fast and Furious”).



The pilot script was written by Tropper, and as a big fan of “Banshee”, Red Dot Diva cannot wait to get immersed in the world and that “Warrior” will have to offer. The cast also has a primarily Asian cast from around the world, which includes both reputable action stars Joe Taslim (*swoon*!) and Jason Tobin. So Thrilling!!!

“Warrior”, which was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, premieres the same time as the U.S. on Saturday, April 6 at 10 AM exclusively on HBO GO and CINEMAX. There will be a repeat on the same day at 10 PM. This is a show definitely not to be missed if you call yourself a wuxia fan!


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The cast have been training hard for their stunts and action sequences in the series. Here's a peek of some of the behind the scenes Instagram photos from the actors. So many awesome biceps!!













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