Jean-Claude Van Damme and aliens. Two things you don't normally associate with one another (except for when he almost played the titular Predator back in 1987). However that's no longer the case as The Muscles From Brussels has agreed to star in an alien invasion film entitled UFO which will shoot in the UK.
Writer/director Dominic Burns decided to send an e-mail to Van Damme's wife on the off-chance he would be interested in acting in his film and to his surprise the Belgian star agreed. He will play a retired military advisor brought back into action in the film which is to shoot in Derby, England.
Burns' first flick was the horror-thriller Cut and he has two more on the way, How To Stop Being a Loser (which he has completed) and Airborne (which is still in post-production).
HeyUGuys has snagged the official, quite lengthy synopsis for the UFO (as well as the poster, which you can see above):
Five friends wake on a seemingly normal morning to find the power's out, there's no mobile phone reception and the radio can tune nothing but static... None of the neighbours know anything about what could have caused these occurrences and news soon arrives that it may in fact spread across half of the UK, maybe further. But with no way of discovering any information and no advice on what to do, the atmosphere quickly turns edgy.
Two nights later they are awoken in the dead of night by what seems like a violent earthquake, strange lights are spotted shining down from high above outside, something is flying over the house, not just the house, the entire neighbourhood, something huge. A city size UFO, finally settles, hovering in the distance above the nearest city.
What now? Are they going to attack? Have they already attacked? Are the power cuts an accidental side effect the UFO isn't aware of? How quickly will society deteriorate and turn into survival of the fittest? What would you do to survive, to ensure the survival of those you love? Whatever happens... Try to remain calm.
It's described by Burns as "Independence Day meets Monsters, told from the point of view of Signs." Locations are being kept top secret but 200 extras are supposedly needed for a couple of scenes.
Co-starring with Van Damme will be Bianca Bree, Sean Brosnan (son of Pierce), Simon Phillips, Jazz Lintott and Maya Grant. Van Damme had apparently visited Derby before and is looking forward to returning; looks like the location was a major factor in his surprise decision to take part.
Would you be up for some Van Damme alien battling action? UFO, which started shooting this week, is due out sometime next year. We can also look forward to seeing the action star in The Expendables 2 (rumored) and Six Bullets (aka The Butcher).