Friday’s the day that a certain JCVD heads to Amazon for a new action series that exposes the real truth about his action status..!
We’ve covered this at length, but here’s a last minute reminder… Friday 19th of August will see Impact’s original cover star Jean-Claude Van Damme headlining the pilot episode of a new show for Amazon, a project that finally reveals the truth about his life in a way that not even the Behind Closed Doors reality show could have ever made us believe. The man we know as Jean-Claude Van Damme is no more, call him Jean-Claude Van Johnson!
If you need to overthrow the government of some rival nation, assassinate the President of a Fascist regime, or save the world and keep it safe for puppies, and you need it done fast, effectively and of course secretly, there’s only one man to call, Jean-Claude Van Johnson! Yes, Van Johnson! While the world might know him as Jean-Claude Van Damme, one of the most internationally recognized action movie stars in history, the star of Bloodsport,Kickboxer, Double Impact, Hard Target and of course Time Cop, but he’s also one of the most dangerous undercover private contractors in the world, using the Van Johnson code name.
Or at least he used to be, he’s been retired for years, caught up in the fame, the glamour, the scandal, he puts the life of international espionage and adventure long behind him and the bad guys have long since taken him off their most dangerous enemy list. Sure… some of his film projects may not be Oscar-winning concepts, a martial arts reworking of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? okkkkkkkay. But things are about to change, a chance encounter with a lost love is about to bring him back into the game, and this time he’ll be faster, stronger, and deadlier than ever before, right?
Jean-Claude has often spoken of a project like this, something that would poke fun at the ‘public image’ of Jean-Claude Van Damme, and give him a chance to show the rarely seen side of his persona. Produced by Scott Free Productions for Amazon, the pilot is directed by Pete Atencio (Key & Peele, Keanau) and written by Dave Callaham (Godzilla… and who is also writing the new Mortal Kombat movie),with Atencio, Van Damme, David W Zucker (Man in the High Castle) & Ridley Scott (Bladerunner) as Exec Producers.
Supporting cast for the show includes Kat Foster from Franklin & Bash, Phylicia Rashad from The Cosby Show and Creed, while the action for the pilot was co-ordinated by Don Thai, whose credits include the upcoming Lethal Weapon TV series, Suicide Squad, John Wick and The Mindy Project.
Inside sources give the thumbs up to both Van Damme’s performance and the potential for the show as an ongoing series, fingers crossed it gets picked up….
Here’s the action-packed trailer… well, not exactly…
