LOS ANGELES, June 3 — George Nolfi of “The Adjustment Bureau” is in line to direct “Birth of the Dragon,” a biographical film based on the life of martial artist Bruce Lee.

“Birth of the Dragon” is to centre upon a 1964 showdown between Lee, who was resident in San Francisco at the time, and kung fu tutor Wong Jack Man, according to Variety.

Accounts of the face-off vary in terms of the reasons behind its instigation, its length and even its eventual outcome, but it was a turning point for Lee, who then decided to create a new fighting style, having previously trained under Wing Chun master Yip Man.

Lee had demonstrated little hesitation in tangling with Triad members during his teenage years in Hong Kong, and “Birth of the Dragon,” told from the perspective of Lee’s student Steve Macklin, will see the influential martial artist tackle organised crime in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

The film’s screenwriters have already collaborated on “Nixon” and “Ali”, while Nolfi enhanced his own reputation as a writer with “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Ocean’s Twelve”. His other current directorial engagement is for “XOXO”, a thriller based on social network romance gone bad from the writer of “Black Swan.” — AFP-Relaxnews