Universal Pictures has optioned the rights to the ’70s TV series “Kung Fu” and will develop it as a feature film remake. “John Wick” and “Deadpool 2” filmmaker David Leitch is attached to direct, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

David Carradine starred in the original ABC series that ran from 1972-75. Universal will move quickly to set a writer on the film.

Kelly McCormick and Leitch will produce “Kung Fu” for their Universal-based 87North Productions alongside Stephen L’Hereaux. Ed Spielman, the creator of the TV series, will executive produce.

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The original series starred Carradine, a white actor, as a Shaolin Monk who traveled the American West while armed with his training in the Chinese martial art of Kung Fu. Carradine once said in an interview that Bruce Lee was at one point originally eyed to star in the series. And Lee’s widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, wrote in her memoirs that Lee had originally pitched the concept of the show to Warner Bros. and Paramount for a show called “The Warrior,” but that his version of the show never materialized.

Leitch recently directed “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” at Universal, which grossed $758.9 million worldwide. He and McCormick have another project they produced called “Nobody” set at Universal that is slated for release on Aug. 14, 2020.

Executive vice president of production Matt Reilly will oversee the “Kung Fu” remake on behalf of the studio.

Leitch and McCormick are represented by WME and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc.

Deadline was first to report the news of the project.

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Katharine Hepburn in "Dragon Seed" (1944)
Caucasian Hepburn played a Chinese woman in this big-screen adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel.
MGM
Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956)
Brando starred as an Okinawan translator for the U.S. Army in this comedy about the American occupation of the island nation.
MGM
John Wayne in "Conquerer" (1956)
Wayne was cast as Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan in what's considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.
RKO Radio Pictures
Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1958)
Heston starred as Ramon Miguel Vargas in the 1958 crime film, a Mexican narcotics officer.
Universal
Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)
More caricature than character, Rooney starred as the buck-toothed, Japanese Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 film, which has faced volumes of criticism since.
Paramount Pictures
Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" (1961)
Wood plays a Puerto Rican in the 1961 film, although she was Russian-American.
United Artists
Laurence Olivier in "Othello" (1965)
Not only did the white actor play a Moor in 1965's "Othello," he did so while wearing blackface.
Warner Bros.
Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983)
Pacino plays a Cuban gangster in the 1983 film, and many criticized his over-the-top, offensive accent.
Universal
Anthony Hopkins in "Mask of Zorro" (1998)
Welsh actor Hopkins starred as the Spanish Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega in the 1998 film.
Tristar
Rob Schneider in "50 First Dates" (2004)
Schneider seems to play a different ethnicity in every Adam Sandler movie. In "The Waterboy" he was the "You can do it!" guy, in "Big Daddy," he was a Middle-Eastern Delivery man, and in "50 First Dates," he plays a native Hawaiian. Badly.
Columbia Pictures
Mike Myers in "The Love Guru" (2008)
Myers played an Indian-American Guru in the roundly panned movie, in which he dressed up a lot of racist jokes in a terrible accent.

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Paramount
Every character from "21" (2008)
The movie follows a group of math students who come up with a card counting strategy to win big in Vegas. While the movie had a predominantly white cast, the real life MIT students were all Asian-American.
Sony
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010)
Gyllenhaal plays a Middle-Eastern prince in the film, which many called "insulting" and "the perfect example of whitewashing."

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Disney
Johnny Depp in "Lone Ranger" (2013)
Like Mara, Johnny Depp played a Native American in Disney's film, which sparked outrage among fans and critics despite the actor's claims that his great-grandmother had mostly Cherokee blood.

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Disney
Rooney Mara in "Pan" (2015)
Mara was cast as Tiger Lily, a Native American, in the 2015 film.

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Warner Bros.
Emma Stone in "Aloha" (2015)
Stone played a Chinese/Swedish/Hawaiian woman in this critically and commercially disappointing Cameron Crowe romantic-comedy.

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Sony