Shin'ichi Chiba was originally cast to star, along with George Lazenby and Bruce Lee. Chiba flew to Hong Kong in order to meet Lazenby and Lee and to sign his contract. At just about the moment that Chiba's plane was landing in Hong Kong, it was announced that Bruce Lee had died. The original project featuring Lee, Lazenby and Chiba was then changed to feature just Lazenby, as Chiba decided not to appear in the film knowing Lee would not be in it.