Martial arts legend Bruce Lee never finished The Silent Flute, which was arguably one of the biggest passion assignments of his movie vocation. Officially greenlit by Warner Bros ., The Silent Flute would have been the actor’s first major Hollywood role( had the movie to be accomplished ). Unfortunately, it wasn’t stirred until several years after the actor’s death. It was rewritten and rebranded as Circle of Iron in 1978 with David Carradine taking Lee’s place.

After the cancellation of The Green Hornet in which Lee co-starred as the hero’s sidekick, Lee struggled to fight work in the acting business. While living in Los Angeles, Lee fought for capacities in the movie and TV manufactures without conclusion much blessing at all. Lee was able to land a few guest recognizes in proves like Here Come The Brides and Ironside, but wasn’t able to get the -Alist movie personas he wanted. During this time, Lee developed the idea that he would deliver his own cinema where he would play one of the main courages. With help from writer Stirling Silliphant and Hollywood idol James Coburn, Lee planned to constitute The Silent Flute, which would have been a kung fu western that leaned heavily into the philosophical aspect of martial art. After get endorsement from Warner Bros ., the trio became committed to getting The Silent Flute off the ground.

Related: Bruce Lee’s One Western Role Explained (& How It Was Different )

In his attempts to see this project through to the end, Lee overcame a number of setbacks, but there were just a few too many obstacles. After going through the long process of observe a hotshot, coming a dialogue ready, and gaining Warner Bros.’ interest, the three were sent to India to find a suitable location for the shoot. As explained in the book, Bruce Lee: A Life by Matthew Polly, The Silent Flute being filmed in India was one of the studio’s conditions for determining the movie. Due to some of its previous business decisions, they determined that filming in India would have been the cheapest option.

Despite the fact that Lee and Coburn were close friends, the two had difficulties getting along during the India trip, which contributed to it being somewhat of an unpleasant experience. That, combined with their inability to find an sphere that perfectly suited the movie, stimulated Coburn to decide that shooting in India merely wasn’t going to work. Due to some concerns about his financial position, Lee wanted to proceed anyway, but Coburn’s decision settled it. After Warner Bros. received reports of the Hollywood actor’s position, the studio scrapped the project since they had no interest in filming in any other place. Lee was exasperated, but it didn’t make long for the actor to move on, as he was cast in his first kung fu movie, The Big Boss , shortly after.

The Silent Flute was never revisited in Bruce Lee’s period, but James Coburn says that he did talk to Lee about the possibility[ via Bruce Lee Lives ]. According to Coburn, these discussions happened when Lee’s movie career was already in full-swing. As a result, Lee had reached a point where The Silent Flute was no longer their own priorities to him. He told Coburn, “you can’t afford me now”. In light of his rising popularity and the movies he had on his slate, The Silent Flute had become a part of Lee’s past.

More: Bruce Lee Once Unsuccessfully Tried To Teach Dean Martin Kung Fu

Read more: screenrant.com