Whatever Happened To Jean-Claude Van Damme?

Jean-Claude Van Damme began his populace life every bit a teenager inwards the 1970s—a Belgian-born martial arts prodigy who became a champion inwards both karate together with kickboxing. In the 1980s together with 1990s, the charismatic together with photogenic "Muscles from Brussels" became an international painting exhibit star amongst starring roles inwards fight-focused activeness hits similar Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Hard Target, together with Timecop. (He fifty-fifty had a cameo every bit himself on Friends.) And then, only every bit fast together with unlikely every bit his rise, came the fall. Here's how the human born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg has occupied himself inwards recent years.


He returned to the Universal Soldier franchise

One of the biggest hits of Van Damme's early on career, the 1992 science-fiction activeness thriller Universal Soldier paired him upward amongst Dolph Lundgren to tell the storey of Luc Deveraux, a deceased Vietnam War veteran resurrected past times an experimental military machine computer program every bit a technologically enhanced super-soldier.

While it wasn't a blockbuster sensation, the cinema performed respectably, bringing inwards $36 million—enough to inspire plans for a piece of cake '90s Universal Soldier TV serial which was teased amongst a distich of direct-to-video movies inwards 1998. Neither of those sequels starred Van Damme or Lundgren, together with when the franchise returned to theaters for 1999's Universal Soldier: The Return, both of the '98 features were bumped out of the serial canon.

Van Damme came dorsum for The Return, together with although his presence was no longer plenty to convey inwards large box office, the serial has proven impressively resilient: both Van Damme together with Lundgren signed on for 2009's Universal Soldier: Regeneration—which ignored the TV movies likewise every bit The Return—and the duo reunited over again for the franchise-closing Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning inwards 2012.

He's nevertheless making Kickboxer movies

Before he expanded his hit amongst science-fiction activeness movies laced amongst martial arts, such every bit Universal Soldier together with Timecop, Van Damme played to his background amongst a string of martial arts-based movies. One of his earliest was 1989's Kickboxer, inwards which he played, well, a kickboxer.

Van Damme didn't provide for the sequel, but that didn't halt Kickboxer from becoming a full-fledged straight-to-video franchise; for activeness enthusiasts of the '90s, the serial became a Fri nighttime mainstay, expanding to an impressive 5 installments past times 1995 patch serving upward loads of chop-socky activeness amongst replacement leading men similar Step past times Step veteran Sasha Mitchell together with time to come Iron Chef America star Mark Dacascos.

After laying dormant for to a greater extent than than twenty years, the Kickboxer franchise made a surprising provide amongst 2016's Kickboxer: Vengeance—and Van Damme was in 1 lawsuit to a greater extent than component of the cast, this fourth dimension playing a supporting run every bit a graphic symbol named Master Durand. If it wasn't quite the starring vehicle the start Kickboxer had been, it must accept been a practiced fourth dimension for Van Damme—he returned for the the 7th installment, Kickboxer: Retaliation.


He got greedy together with it wound his career

Jean-Claude Van Damme reached his commercial peak amongst Timecop. The 1994 time-travel thriller earned $44 1000000 at the domestic box office—the close of whatsoever live-action painting exhibit he's toplined. While the stars of other large 1994 hits remain major draws—Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Sandra Bullock (Speed), together with Jim Carrey (The Mask)—Van Damme's profile roughshod far faster. Why? Partly because he miscalculated his clout together with marketability at a cardinal moment.

After the success of Timecop, Van Damme was reportedly offered a three-movie bargain that would accept paid him an astounding $12 1000000 per film. Around the same time, Carrey made headlines past times becoming the start $20 1000000 man, so Van Damme rejected the $12 1000000 together with asked for the same fee Carrey had negotiated. The three-movie offering was rescinded, together with Van Damme ended upward on what he subsequently described every bit a Hollywood "blacklist," effectively ending his blockbuster career.

"Jim Carrey was existence paid a fortune. And I wanted to play amongst the system," Van Damme told The Guardian inwards 2012. "Like an idiot. Ridiculous."


There's a statue of him inwards Belgium

Van Damme is famously nicknamed "The Muscles from Brussels," every bit he was indeed a ripped guy born inwards the majuscule metropolis of Belgium. In 2012, Brussels paid tribute to 1 of its favorite sons amongst a life-sized bronze statue, forever posed inwards a fight-ready opinion inwards forepart of the Westland Shopping Center. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 visibly touched Van Damme unveiled the statue himself at a exceptional ceremony inwards 2012 together with spoke at the event, proverb the monument "represented the dream of a Brussels kid" together with hoping it could serve every bit a source of inspiration for troubled youth. "If yous believe inwards something strongly enough," he told the crowd, "it tin come upward true."

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