Hey guys, Jana here,

Jean-Claude Van Damme is heading back to his roots. Well, at least as far back as 1989’s ‘Kickboxer‘. Van Damme starred as Kurt Sloan, the corner-man for his brother and U.S. kickboxing champion, Eric Sloan. Kurt witnesses Eric’s intentional paralyzation in the ring by Thailand champ Tong Po. Of course, Kurt vows revenge, as any good brother should. He finds a trainer, Zion, and meets Tong Po in the ring for the fight of his life. My favorite thing about this film, was a very young Van Damme, and the name Tong Po. The name is just fun to say. Tong Po!

Now, Van Damme is in final negotiations to join the cast of ‘Kickboxer‘, a franchise reboot that will feature muscle-bound hottie and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ and WWE star, Dave Bautista and stuntman, Alain Moussi. The roles will be changed up a bit with Moussi playing the main character, Kurt and Van Damme in the role of the kickboxing master. We still have a Tong Po, played by Bautista, but instead of just being paralyzed, his brother is killed. This will make for a little more anger and, hopefully, more action. Not that the original lacked action, I’m just an action junkie and martial arts movies are especially awesome!

Besides those listed above, Georges St. Pierre, a UFC welterweight champ who played Batroc in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, is also in the cast. “We are so excited to have Kickboxer roll into production and to have JCVD in the role of Master Chow, passing the torch to Alain, to have him lead the franchise to a new generation ” said Ted Field of Radar Films, who is producing the movie with Dimitri Logothetis and Nick Celozzi. Logothetis and Jim McGrath wrote the script. Shooting begins this week in New Orleans and Thailand.