'Warrior' Trailer: Bruce Lee-Inspired Period Drama Packs A Punch

In 1971, Bruce Lee pitched a concept for a TV series called The Warrior, following a martial artist in the American Old West. But the project fell through and the idea has laid dormant since. But about four years ago, Fast & Furious director Justin Lin teamed up with Cinemax to bring Lee's never-produced idea to life.

Now Lee's dream has been realized in the form of the Cinemax TV series Warrior, which is loosely based on his original concept. Set in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1800s, the series follows Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), a martial artist who has immigrated from China and gets caught up in the Tong Wars taking over the city.

Justin Lin and Jonathan Tropper, the co-creator of the Cinemax action series Banshee, co-created the 10-episode series Warrior, which comes just as the new wave of Asian-American titles are gaining momentum in Hollywood. Crazy Rich Asians, Searching, and even Into the Badlands set the path that Warrior now walks — though it's a path that the series almost pioneered back in the 1970s.

It's a little bittersweet to imagine a martial arts TV series starring Bruce Lee in the lead role, but Koji seems up to the challenge in this full official Warrior trailer. As Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates to the U.S. under "mysterious circumstances," he is appropriately cool and stoic, frequently showing off his ripped bod and killer fighting skills. But those skills get him dragged into the Tong Wars, branded and forced to become a goon for one of Chinatown's most powerful organized crime gangs.

Olivia Cheng, Jason Tobin, Dianne Doan, Kieran Bew, Dean S. Jagger, Joanna Vanderham, Tom Weston-Jones, Hoon Lee as Wang Chao, Joe Taslim, Langley Kirkwood, Christian McKay, Perry Yung, Arthur Falko, Rich Ting, and Dustin Nguyen also star in the series.

Here is the official description of the new show:

Warrior is a gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco's Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown's most powerful tongs (Chinese organized crime family).

Warrior arrives on Cinemax sometime in 2019.