Summary
In 2000, Ang Lee’s martial arts epicCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonwas released, becoming a critical and commercial success worldwide. And now, 25 years later, the kung-fu-filled fantasy film is getting a TV series adaptation atAmazon Prime Video. Adapted from the 1941 novel by Wang Dulu, the movie only dove into part one of the saga,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonstars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen. Set in 19th-century Imperial China, the story tells the tale of two master warriors, Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien, who are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword is stolen by the mysterious thief Jen Yu (Zhang).
At the time,Ang Lee, who was best known for films like 1997’sThe Ice Storm, starring Christina Ricci and Sigourney Weaver, garnered 10 Academy Award nominations forCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the most for a non-English language film, and won four awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography. The film’s success helped to introduce a new genre, wuxia, to a wider audience, particularly in the West. However, it did receive some mixed reviews in Asia, where some felt that the film was too watered down in a bid to appease its Western audience.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Series Greenlit for Amazon’s Prime Video
According toDeadline,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, based on the Crane-Iron Pentalogy book series by Wang Dulu, is in development at Prime Video.Jason Ning, a screenwriter for theTV seriesLucifer,will be at the helm to take on writing duties and to executive produce the TV adaptation, along with Ron D. Moore (OutlanderandFor All Mankind)and Maril Davis from Tall Ship Productions. Ying Lou is also on board to co-executive produce, with Sony Pictures Television producing the adaptation.
The originalCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonnovel was published between 1941 and 1942, with the other books in the series includingCrane Startles Kunlun,Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin,Sword Force, Pearl ShineandIron Knight, Silver Vase,so the adaptation has plenty of room to expand over its source material.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonpremiered in 16 cinemas in the United States on 26 June 2025 and was then widely released throughout the U.S. in January 2001, grossing $8,647,295 at the box office.Ang Lee’s filmwent on to accumulate $128 million in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing foreign produced Mandarin-language film in American history. To add even more incredible stats to the visually stunning film, it was also the first non-English language film to break the $100 million mark in the U.S.
TheCrouching Tiger, Hidden DragonTV series is currently in development, so a release window or a production update likely won’t be released until much further down the line. However, for those who haven’t seen the movie yet or need a refresher before the TV adaptation, the movie version can be watched right now on Max and HBO.
