Post by Replicant on Jan 4, 2018 13:29:08 GMT
Jean-Claude Van Damme's long and painful road to a second comeback
January 3, 2017
Jean-Claude Van Damme made the jump to streaming television last month with the release of Jean Claude Van Johnson, a new six-episode series on Amazon. In this meta action-comedy with a splash of science fiction in the form of time-traveling doppelgangers (homages to Timecop and Double Team), the "Muscles From Brussels" plays a version of himself coming out of retirement to star in an action movie version of Huckleberry Finn — a cover for his actual profession: undercover operative.
The series, executive-produced by Ridley Scott, will parody most if not all of Van Damme's career. Van Johnson is Van Damme's first major starring role since 2008's JCVD, a meta indie drama in which he also played a version of himself. Many viewed his performance in that film as a comeback, with Van Damme himself saying it started his "second cycle of fame" after almost a decade in straight-to-DVD purgatory.
Now nine years after JCVD, Van Damme, at 57, is attempting – with a series that is more Jackie Chan than Arnold Schwarzenegger – a second comeback. So it's worth looking back at what led to Van Damme's first comeback, what he did with his second chance, and how those choices led him, the master of the roundhouse kick and the leg split, to take a role that pokes fun at his 30-plus-year career.
Read more here: www.syfy.com/syfywire/jean-claude-van-dammes-long-and-painful-road-to-a-second-comeback
January 3, 2017
Jean-Claude Van Damme made the jump to streaming television last month with the release of Jean Claude Van Johnson, a new six-episode series on Amazon. In this meta action-comedy with a splash of science fiction in the form of time-traveling doppelgangers (homages to Timecop and Double Team), the "Muscles From Brussels" plays a version of himself coming out of retirement to star in an action movie version of Huckleberry Finn — a cover for his actual profession: undercover operative.
The series, executive-produced by Ridley Scott, will parody most if not all of Van Damme's career. Van Johnson is Van Damme's first major starring role since 2008's JCVD, a meta indie drama in which he also played a version of himself. Many viewed his performance in that film as a comeback, with Van Damme himself saying it started his "second cycle of fame" after almost a decade in straight-to-DVD purgatory.
Now nine years after JCVD, Van Damme, at 57, is attempting – with a series that is more Jackie Chan than Arnold Schwarzenegger – a second comeback. So it's worth looking back at what led to Van Damme's first comeback, what he did with his second chance, and how those choices led him, the master of the roundhouse kick and the leg split, to take a role that pokes fun at his 30-plus-year career.
Read more here: www.syfy.com/syfywire/jean-claude-van-dammes-long-and-painful-road-to-a-second-comeback