Thursday
06Nov2008
Van Damme Enlists in 'Universal Soldier III'
Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 6:44AM
It certainly is a strange and profound time in American
history. You know what I'm talking about: People everywhere are rooting for
Jean-Claude Van
Damme. 
Now, The Muscles from Brussels is building on that momentum to go back to the future again. He tells MTV that he's signed up for Universal Soldier III: A New Beginning, but cautions, "I’m just going to do 10 days," which could mean it's not a big role or it's just not a big movie. But what about co-star Dolph Lundgren? Surely the producers of US3 can see the headline-ready appeal of that reunion, like Simon & Garfunkel in Central Park, or completely unlike the Eagles.
“I told them, guys bring in Dolph! They said there’s no more value [to cast him]. I said, ‘it will have value with me!’”
While he may have tried in vain to get Dolph back, Jean-Claude will work again with Peter Hyams, who directed him in Timecop, and who has directed everything from The Presidio to 2010. This time, though, Hyams will take orders from Simon Fellows, who directed Van Damme in Until Death, as the film's director of photography.
So what should we expect from a third (although technically fifth) Universal Soldier movie? After all, the other installments practically re-wrote the way screenplays were written. Says Van Damme mysteriously, “It has to do with something in the past.” Thanks for narrowing it down to the last 14 billion years.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in JCVD, Sci-Fi, Sequels | Print Article | Email Article | 2 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (2)
Haha! This is awesome!
Universal Soldier is an awesome film for it's genre. Not every film made has to be some broodingly dark revered "masterpiece"; some can just be fun!
Universal Soldier II (Official) was a pretty decent expansion of the franchise - for a uber low budget film.
I'll look forward to a third installment for sure!
Other than Jan Michael Vincent there is no one I'd rather see play Stringfellow Hawke than Jean Claude Van Damme.
I'm getting pumped just thinking about it!