Kung Fu: Donnie Yen to star in 87North’s big-screen reboot of the classic series

Last Updated on March 5, 2024

David Leitch’s 87North is getting ready to reboot the classic martial arts/ western series Kung Fu, and it looks like they’ve found their Caine: the one and only Donnie Yen. The press release doesn’t reveal if Yen is actually playing Caine, but it seems like a no-brainer. The series was infamously developed by Bruce Lee as a starring vehicle for himself, only for the role to be eventually cast with David Carradine in the lead. In the end, it worked out fine, with Bruce Lee gaining immortality with his kung-fu movies for Golden Harvest in Hong Kong (which would have never happened had he been tied to a series), while Carradine became iconic as the enigmatic Caine.

Caine roams the Wild West in the series, looking for his long-lost brother. He was a peace-loving protector of the innocent who only fought when provoked (which happened A LOT). Yen actually played a character in John Wick Chapter 4 that served as a quasi-homage to Kung Fu, with his blind assasin sporting the same name as Carradine’s character, Caine. In the series, Caine wasn’t blind, but his sifu, Master Po (Keye Luke), was. David Leitch is being eyed to direct the film himself, having recently wrapped The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling. His 87North partners Kelly McCormick and Guy Danella will join him as producers, while Stephen Chin wrote the script.

As stated in the Deadline article that broke the story, Leitch is thrilled to be working with Yen: “Donnie Yen is both an immensely talented actor and an action film legend, and it is a privilege to have a true martial arts master leading this global film…With Donnie in place as our leading man, it will be a thrill to collaborate with him, our creative partners, and Universal in reimagining this beloved story for the big screen.”

Yen has one of the most distinguished CVs in martial arts movie history, with lead roles in Iron Monkey, Once Upon a Time in China 2, SPL (aka Kill Zone), the Ip Man films, and so many more. He’s also played many English language roles. However, it seems this will be his first time as the solo star of a big-budget American film, with Universal, Leitch’s usual home studio, set as the distributor. No word is yet on whether they’ll keep the original Old West setting.

What do you think of Donnie Yen being cast in Kung Fu? Let us know in the comments.