The popularized Bruce Lee, not only became the target of the producers in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but also was an inportant star in the eyes of the producers in Europe and America.
They included eight big companies in Hollywood – Warner Brothers, MGM, Columbia, United Artists and Fox.
Taking a short-cut, Fox sent Bruce’s close friend James Coburn to be the persuader, and invited Bruce to work in a film, hoping to get Bruce first through their close relation.
James Coburn and Bruce Lee were good friends. They had a teacher-and-student relationship, and had worked together too. Before Bruce entered the Mandarin film world, he had planned to film together with James a film, “The Silent Flute.”
They had been to India to survey the exterior site, and had stayed there for a long time. On the basis of this close relation between the two, doubtless Fox was in a favourable position.
In April of 1973, as James Coburn and another high-rank executive of Fox arrived in Hong Kong, Bruce and Raymond Chow went to meet them in the airport.
Later Bruce brought them to see his film in the cinema, and discussed about the plan of filming together.
Unfortunately, three months later, Bruce suddenly left the world, leaving the plan unfinished.