Back in April, we let you in on the fact that a UNIVERSAL SOLDIER III was being planned, with Jean Claude Van Damme set to reprise his role as Luc Devereaux: Half robot/Half Zombie Vietnam Vet. (In case you’re saying – like I originally had – “Hey, there already was a f*ckin Universal Soldier III”!, know that parts 2 and 3 were “unofficial” sequels released on home video, and only 1999’s UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN was the first one’s true sequel. Got it?)
Well, now we’ve been pointed toward a website that provides a title (THE BEGINNING!), synopsis, producer, and even director (the production company is behind the upcoming IT’S ALIVE remake). As far as we know, this is the real deal, but you should still approach tentatively…
Here’s the synopsis: A crazed Chechen nationalist, BASAYEV, seizes control of Chernobyl, site of the infamous nuclear meltdown, and threatens to unleash a radioactive cloud unless his nationalist blackmail demands are met.
LUC DEVEREAUX (Jean-Claude Van Damme) joins a U.S. team of revived UniSoldiers secretly held in deep storage. Their mission: retake Chernobyl and disable explosives that will unleash the radioactive clouds. Luc is surprised when he finds one of the reactivated UniSoldiers is a clone of his old Sergeant, ANDREW SCOTT (Dolph Lundgren). But the cloned Andrew has no recollection of Luc.
As the team furiously battles its way into the Chernobyl plant, they are caught off guard. Using a mind-control chip, Baseyev turns Andrew against his own comrades. Now surrounded, wounded, and out-numbered, Luc must battle Andrew, and save the world.
The fact that there’s a part 3 being developed is very real. Check out this article over at Moviehole, where P.J. Pesce (LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE) says he was once in the mix to direct. Whether or not it will come to fruition, like I know we’re all praying it will, remains to be seen. Van Damme and Lundgren together again? You’re a piece of human garbage if you’re not excited by that…
Kiana Tom, from UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN.
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