ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE

A look at the history, controversy and legacy behind one of the most bizarre and successful genres in movie history: the Bruce Lee exploitation craze.

When Bruce Lee died in 1974 at the peak of his superstardom, he had completed only four feature films. But within hours of his funeral, Hong Kong movie studios began to produce hundreds of unauthorized biopics, sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and rip-offs starring a competing series of Lee lookalikes. Over the next decade, fueled by both deception and demand, ‘Bruceploitation’ would become a staple of global cinema. Director David Gregory – who’d previously explored film’s transgressive edges in his award-winning documentaries LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON – now examines this uniquely ‘70s phenomenon via interviews with Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Liang and Dragon Lee; martial arts movie legends that include Angela Mao, David Chiang, Phillip Ko, Casanova Wong, Yasuaki Kurata and Sammo Hung; and the producers, directors, distributors and experts – along with copious clips from the films themselves – that for the first time reveal the history, controversy and legacy behind one of the most bizarre and successful genres in movie history