After the blockbuster success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee continued his efforts to become the undisputed star in Hong Kong. Hence, after two superhit films, Lee was well on his way, to making The Way of the Dragon. However, unlike his other two films, the master did not promote the latter himself publicly. For this, Lee ended up at the receiving end of a lot of criticism from the Chinese media.

Lee’s biography, Bruce Lee: A Life, penned by Mathew Polly, revealed the scenario before the release of Bruce Lee’s iconic film. The Way of the Dragon was supposed to release in the summer of 1972. However, the Chuck Norris starrer movie was running behind schedule and was low on the budget too.

Bruce Lee released the film in very unfavorable situations

The master had bet on everything – his finances, his reputation, and his new company, Concord Production Inc., for his film to be a hit. In fact, Lee had bragged to the press that his movie would make HK$5 million. Moreover, Lee’s wife revealed in the biography, “The money we were spending was being advanced to us on the strength of profits that were not yet realized.” She also added, “That made it doubly important Way of the Dragon was successful.”

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However, despite so much leverage, Lee refrained from appearing in promotional events. This was because the press had begun painting him in a negative light. Moreover, when Lee ignored the media completely, it began criticizing him even more as the release of his film approached.

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However, amidst the uncertainties, Lee’s film worked his charm again at the box office. On its release date, December 30, 1972, it sold over HK$1 million in tickets. Nevertheless, by January 13, 1973, it had broken Fist of Fury’s record and went on to fulfill Lee’s prediction, reaching HK$5,307,000. The master had seen a difficult time while making this film. In fact, at one point, Lee was asked to promote a cigarette advertisement.

Bruce Lee appeared in a cigarette ad with Bolo Yeung

While shooting Way of Dragon, 40% of its budget was over after wrapping only two-thirds of the film. Hence, the production needed more money to shoot and restructure major scenes. At that time, producer Raymond Chow urged the master to star in the Winston cigarette ad with bodybuilder Bolo Yeung.

Although Lee did not appear in the cigarette ad, he gave a few clips of his action scenes from Way of Dragon to be used in the advertisement. Not only did it work as a great promotional strategy, but also began the friendship between Bolo Yeung and the master, which can be seen in Enter the Dragon.

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