‘You Love Bruce. I Love Bruce.’ Bryan Fuller Told Me How Dust Bunny May Be The First Horror Fairy Tale Inspired By Bruce Lee

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Be warned: the following contains spoilers for the movie Dust Bunny, which is currently playing in theaters. If you haven’t seen it yet, you might want to avoid reading further. (But we highly recommend you go see it!)

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Bryan Fuller’s first movie, Dust Bunny, feels like the perfect spooky film to release after Halloween 2025. While it’s definitely rated R and contains violent scenes with creative deaths, it’s more than just a horror movie. The story follows Mads Mikkelsen as a hitman who protects a unique young girl from a mythical monster, all while facing off against other, more realistic enemies. The film also draws a lot of inspiration from Bruce Lee.

Simply put, Dust Bunny is a wonderfully quirky and charming film from beginning to end – and many others agree, using words like ‘whimsical’ to describe it. Fans of Bryan Fuller’s previous work – like Wonderfalls, Hannibal, and Dead Like Me – will find it has the same unique blend of styles. The director recently spoke with TopMob before the film’s release, and when I asked about how he combined different genres in Aurora’s story, he explained:

I enjoy horror films, and I’m not easily frightened by them, but I’d actually describe this movie as more of a dark fairy tale, or a good introduction to the horror genre. It’s scary without being overly intense—there’s some violence, but nothing too graphic. It’s fun to blend those elements. Classic fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel already mix humor, suspense, and scary moments, showing that genres can blend well together.

Like a dark fairy tale, the story Dust Bunny immediately plunges you into the strange world of young Aurora Sloan. Things seem ordinary at first, except for how easily she follows her mysterious neighbor, who lives in apartment 5B, into town. She witnesses him seemingly defeat a giant dragon using shadow magic. This opening scene cleverly establishes how the story will switch between Aurora’s point of view and that of her neighbor.

Bryan Fuller explained that he wanted to weave together all the different storylines using these two characters as a central focus, but without over-explaining things to the audience. He wanted the story to unfold naturally, rather than spelling everything out.

Once we established the story was about a young girl hiring a hitman to deal with the monster under her bed, we realized we could quickly establish the world of assassins and monsters because those elements are common in fairy tales. This allowed us to focus on the girl’s perspective and how reliable she was as the storyteller, rather than spending a lot of time building those other worlds from scratch.

It’s hard to discuss Mads Mikkelsen’s character going inside a dragon – or a dragon float – without thinking about Bruce Lee. Lee was a huge star, but sadly didn’t live to see the age of CGI dragons like those in Game of Thrones. Still, I think both Lee and Mikkelsen’s character would have been a match for those creatures, or at least one of them.

Fuller explained that the initial fight scene was crucial, not only for the rest of the film, but also for strengthening his long-standing relationship with the main actor.

You know, when we were filming the fight scene with Maz at the beginning, we really wanted to pay tribute to Bruce Lee. Maz and I actually connected over our shared love for him – he used to practice nunchucks as a kid, and apparently, he bumped into things a lot while doing it! So, we thought, ‘Let’s do a nunchuck fight!’ It felt like the perfect signature weapon for that mysterious neighbor character.

Most kids who played with nunchucks probably ended up hitting themselves a few times. But it’s not every day someone goes on to play both a terrifying villain like Hannibal Lecter and a skilled martial artist inspired by Bruce Lee!

Originally conceived as an idea for the show Amazing Stories a decade ago, Dust Bunny became a particularly rewarding project for Bryan Fuller. It seems everyone involved enjoyed the collaborative effort of bringing this unusual concept to fruition. Fuller even got to incorporate his actor’s name into the character’s fighting style, which added to the fun.

I loved being able to share my skills with my friend and create a Bruce Lee-inspired fight scene – we jokingly called it ‘Mads Fu’. We aimed for something that both fans of classic kung fu movies and younger audiences would enjoy. It’s meant to be a fun introduction to both horror and martial arts, hopefully sparking kids’ interest in seeking out more inspiring films like ‘Dust Bunny’ or the original classics that inspired it.

The idea of a kung fu horror movie feels like exactly the kind of thing I would have loved as a kid, and honestly, still do. I think I’d enjoy the scary monsters and exciting action in Dust Bunny no matter how old I am.

Bryan Fuller shared a fascinating story about the show’s action sequences. He explained that the choreography for one of the best fights – the hallway fight – was partially created using an iPhone video of action figures being moved around.

We were getting annoyed with how the fight scene with the actor who plays Wednesday Addams was going – he was covered in wallpaper! One weekend, I decided we should rehearse it at my place. I had a miniature version of the hallway set, some Bruce Lee action figures, and costumes. We planned to choreograph the fight, film it with my iPhone, and then show the stunt team exactly what we wanted.

Let’s be real, everyone needs a break from the daily grind, something fun to recharge. But what I saw was something special – playtime that actually felt productive. It wasn’t just mindless fun, and honestly, the footage proves it. It’s pretty amazing when you can enjoy yourself and get things done!

I filmed a really enjoyable video of Mads playing with Bruce Lee action figures, acting out fight scenes we’d planned together. I operated the camera while he performed the stunts, and moments like that made me realize we were having a blast – maybe too much fun! It felt like that freewheeling, do-it-yourself spirit you get with independent filmmaking.

If Hollywood prioritized independent films and filmmakers as much as big-budget blockbusters, Dust Bunny might not seem so unique. But honestly, it still would be, because Bryan Fuller is truly original.

Sophie Sloan is a standout talent, just as captivating as established stars like Mads Mikkelsen and Sigourney Weaver, who also delivers a strong performance as the building’s superintendent. The cast also features David Dastmalchian, Rebecca Henderson, and Sheila Atim.

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2025-12-16 03:11