Un-produced Bruce Lee martial arts script Silent Flute being developed as limited series

Variety reports that Hong Kong-born entrepreneur and film producer Jason Kothari, one of the producers on the Vin Diesel comic adaptation Bloodshot, has purchased all rights to The Silent Flute, a martial arts script co-written by martial arts icon Bruce Lee in 1970. According to the report, the project will be developed as a limited series with John Fusco (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Marco Polo TV Series, The Forbidden Kingdom) as screenwriter and executive producer.

The Silent Flute is set in a dystopian future after mankind has suffered pandemics, fire and civil war, and all weapons and combat arts have been banned. It follows an inexperienced fighter who overcomes enormous obstacles and loss to reach enlightenment and become the best fighter on earth.

The film script was a five-year collaboration between Bruce Lee, along with his friends and martial arts students, including Oscar-winning writer Stirling Silliphant and Oscar-winning actor James Coburn. It encapsulated Lee’s vision for the true essence of martial arts and the meaning of life. The Silent Flute remained unfinished after Bruce Lee’s passing in 1973.

Film rights to The Silent Flute were purchased from producer Paul Maslansky (Police Academy), Sasha Maslansky, Kurt Fehtke and Arlene Howard, all of whom will be credited as executive producers.

Kothari is the former CEO of Valiant Entertainment, a U.S. superhero entertainment firm that has a five-movie deal with Sony Pictures, of which Bloodshot was a project.

Fusco recently completed The Highwaymen for Netflix, and is a black belt in three disciplines. Variety reports that he studies Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do martial arts system under Lee’s former students.