The Last Mercenary: Jean-Claude Van Damme leads Netflix’s new action-comedy film
Universal Soldier star Jean-Claude Van Damme has officially signed on for the leading role in Netflix‘s upcoming action-comedy titled The Last Mercenary, which has already begun its filming in France. This marks the Belgian action star’s first ever project with a streaming service.
“’The Last Mercenary’ is an incredibly exciting project and allows me to take on a new genre,” Van Damme said in a statement (via Deadline). “I’ve always been a fan of Jean-Paul Belmondo and I hope to take up the torch of action comedy in my own way. David Charhon’s script brings all these elements together in a very successful way – a beautiful story with emotion, a lot of action and a lot of humor. I’m also very happy to work alongside a new generation of talent such as Alban Ivanov, Assa Sylla and Samir Decazza, but also to be reunited on screen with the creme de la creme of French actors such as Patrick Timsit, Eric Judor, Miou-Miou and Valérie Kaprisky.”
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The Last Mercenary centers around a mysterious former secret service agent (Van Damme) as he must urgently return to France when his estranged son is falsely accused of arms and drug trafficking by the government, following a blunder by an overzealous bureaucrat and a mafia operation. Joining Van Damme are French actors Alban Ivanov, Assa Sylla, Samir Decazza, Patrick Timsit, Eric Judor and Miou-Miou.
This project will also be Van Damme’s first action comedy as he is mostly-known for his action-martial arts films such as Bloodsport, Cyborg and Kickboxer. He gained international success and had become one of the iconic action stars during the late 80s up to the 90s for appearing in a number of action films including: Death Warrant, Universal Soldier, Nowhere to Run, Hard Target, Street Fighter, Sudden Death, Timecop and more.
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Charhon added, “I want to return to the great tradition of action films of the ’80s and ’90s – those cult films we all love where the heroes were out of the ordinary, the stunts were all more impressive and truer than life, and all punctuated with humor. Only Jean-Claude could embody this unparalleled golden age of cinema.”
The Last Mercenary is directed by David Charhon, who co-wrote the film with Ismaël Sy Savané. It is being produced by: Forecast Pictures’ Jean-Charles Levy and Nicolas Manuel; Other Angle Pictures’ Olivier Albou and Laurence Schonberg; Mony Films’ David Charhon, Jakéma Charhon,and Eponine Maillet; and Apple Tree’s Olias Barco and Vlad Riashyn.
