It’s all just so perfect. The world was not only crying out for a reboot of Kickboxer, the 1989 paean to super slo-mo throat kicks and overdubbed sound effects of bones crunching, it needed Jean-Claude Van Damme, star of the original, to come back too. Well, Van Damme did, moving from the role of student to the role of teacher in Kickboxer: Vengeance, which co-stars Gina Carano, Dave Bautista and UFC vet Georges St. Pierre. The John Stockwell-directed reboot hits theaters and VOD on Aug. 19. Glory be.
But now, the news gets even better. There’s already going to be a sequel to Vengeance, called Retaliation, with Mike Tyson set to appear. And you know who else is going to be in it? Yep, you guessed it. JCVD himself. Double glory be.
The Hollywood Reporter says Van Damme signed on in a Facebook Live announcement on the Fourth of July (!!!) and that Retaliation will be the second installment of a proposed trilogy of new Kickboxer movies. Brilliance in action.
Van Damme remains the Muay Thai mentor in the sequel, while whatever it is Tyson is going to do remains to be seen. Hopefully the producers can work around any potential appearances at the Republican National Convention, but we digress. The point here is more Kickboxer movies and more Van Damme-age. The world is a truly great place.
(via THR)
