It's been an interesting few months for Jean-Claude Van Damme, as he hasn't been talked about this much since he was a "comeback kid" after wowing audiences in JCVD. With his career seemingly on the upswing after The Expendables 3, a generally well-received Universal Soldier sequel, and progress on Double Impact 2, Van Damme has also expressed a desire to take part in the Bloodsport remake. Here's what he had to say back in August....
Van Damme: "I want to be in the film as a trainer, [but] I don't think the writer wants [me] to. He knows that 'Bloodsport' is a big film so he wants to get credit with all of that."
Yeah, and at the time we said that it probably wasn't smart to take shots at the writer, who just so happens to be Taken 2 scribe Robert Mark Kamen. His film having just grossed over $100M worldwide this past weekend, Kamen has been making the interview rounds and was asked about the possibility of Van Damme appearing in Bloodsport, and his answer may surprise and piss some people off.
Kamen: "This film resembles the original in title only. It has nothing to do with any Kumite contest. It has nothing to do with Frank Dux. If the title was not the same, you would not associate the two films. To use JCVD would make no sense because the association would be lost as the story has nothing to do with the first one. If anything it would be a distraction."
Ugghhh....what the $&$^!& is the point of calling it Bloodsport if it's not Bloodsport! So this was never truly a remake at all, right? Is that what he's saying? That's what it sounds like to me. It's almost like they're trying to bank on a familiar title to lure a few suckers into the theater with hopes of seeing some cool underground martial arts action. Kamen then goes on to take what I think is an unnecessary and unprofessional dig at Van Damme...
Kamen: "No splits [in the Bloodsport remake]. This is a character driven, politically motivated film. It has nothing to do with splits or muscles or grudge matches and as I said, if the title were not attached to the rights, you would not associate one film with the other."
The jab in that statement is that Van Damme is little more than a few split kicks and well-polished abs. Look, I can understand not wanting Van Damme in the film. I'm not really upset by that as it's the prerogative of Kamen and the director, who is presumably still Philip Noyce(Salt). It annoys the crap out of me that they would deliberately wave the idea of Bloodsport in front us, only to have it turn out to be something completely different. Now more than ever I'm hoping this project simply goes away. [Crave]
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