Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon series in development at Amazon Prime Video

Sony owns the rights to author Wang Dulu’s Crane-Iron Pentalogy series, the books from which Lee’s 2000 film was adapted. Ning, who was previously a co-EP on the failed Prime/Sony partnership Silk: Spider Society, was originally tapped to adapt the novels in 2023. Per THR, the logline for the new show goes, “Amidst stunning landscapes and spectacular action, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon follows Shu Lien and Mu Bai, two star-crossed warriors, as they struggle between forbidden love and the pull of modernity — caught between preserving their way of life or embracing a future together.”

Lee’s take on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was an international sensation, a success at both the box office and with critics. The movie earned 10 Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director; at the time, it was the most-nominated foreign language film in Academy Award history. It also served as the breakout role for Michelle Yeoh, who would return to the Oscars over 20 years later to win Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once. (She also starred in The Brothers Sun, for which new Crouching Tiger writer Ning served as a co-executive producer.) In 2016, Netflix released a sequel to Lee’s film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny. Yeoh returned as Yu Shu Lien alongside a new cast that included Donnie Yen, Harry Shum Jr., Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jason Scott Lee and Eugenia Yuan.