Jean-Claude Van Damme showed an admiral ability to laugh at himself in 2009's comedy crime drama JCVD. And now he's riffing on his own personality again for a new Amazon pilot called Jean-Claude Van Johnson.
The potential series would see Van Damme playing the title character, a private contractor (read: mercenary or secret agent for hire) who uses the Jean-Claude Van Damme name and career as cover for his more dangerous work. Which explains why he made movies such as Street Fighter and Timecop – they were smokescreens for covert operations.
His latest "acting job" is the lead role in a re-imagining of Huckleberry Finn, one that will plunge him back into the world of danger that he craves, and get him closer to Vanessa, his fellow operative, and the woman he loves. Prepare for laughs about Van Damme – or Van Johnson – feeling depressed that he's no longer the man he was, worries about doing the splits (it wouldn't be Van Damme otherwise, would it?) and envy over family photos in the Christmas cards he receives from Dolph Lundgren.
Sounds like it could be a chucklesome idea, and Expendables writer Dave Callaham has come up with the pilot script, which will be in the hands of regular Key & Peele director Peter Atencio, who has Keanu headed to our screens this year. The pilot is reportedly set to go before the cameras in May, and will be up on Amazon at some point in the future, hopefully turning out well enough that it will lead to a full series.