Way of the Dragon
Lee played his first leading role in "The Big Boss" (1971), which proved to be an enormous box office success across Asia and catapulted him to stardom. He soon followed up with "Fist of Fury" (1972), which broke the box office records set previously by "The Big Boss". Having finished his initial two-year contract, Lee negotiated a new deal with Golden Harvest. Lee later formed his own company, Concord Production Inc., with Chow. For his third film, "Way of the Dragon" (1972), he was given complete control of the film's production as the writer, director, star, and choreographer of the fight scenes. In 1964, at a demonstration in Long Beach, California, Lee met karate champion Chuck Norris. In "Way of the Dragon" Lee introduced Norris to moviegoers as his opponent, their showdown has been characterized as "one of the best fight scenes in martial arts and film history". The role had originally been offered to American karate champion Joe Lewis. "Fist of Fury" and "Way of the Dragon" went on to gross an estimated and worldwide, respectively.