In 1977, Chuck Norris took on his very first starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker!. This film marked a significant transition in his career from a world-champion martial artist to a leading man in Hollywood.
It was directed by Don Hulette and released by American Cinema Productions, riding the wave of the CB radio craze popularized by Smokey and the Bandit the same year. Norris was primarily known as a martial arts champion and had only appeared in supporting roles before this, most notably in Return of the Dragon (1972) opposite Bruce Lee.
The film blends the trucker/CB radio trend with Norris’s trademark karate action, a combination that made it a modest drive-in hit. It was made on a very low budget but performed well enough to help launch Norris’s career as an action star, paving the way for bigger hits like Good Guys Wear Black (1978) and eventually the Missing in Action and Delta Force franchises.
Norris said he was paid $5,000 to do the film. “I didn’t know anything when I made that movie,” said Norris. “We shot it in just 11 days. But it was amazing, people loved it anyway. It’s a down-home kind of movie. It’s still my dad’s favorite.”
“I want to become as big in the movie industry as I’ve been in the karate industry,” said Norris in 1977. “I know I can do it because I have the faith to do it.”

































