The Muscles from Brussels ... goes meta? JoBlo.com has posted the trailer to the upcoming action-showbiz-comedy J.C.V.D., starring semi-washed-up '80s action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme as ... semi-washed-up '80s action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme. Apparently, the film sees a down-on-his luck Van Damme not just reduced to lame film projects and enduring a tiresome separation, but adding insult to injury, embroiled in a bank robbery gone wrong.

His glory days of Time Cop and Hard Target are, frankly, long past; Van Damme's output in recent years has been sketchy, sporadic and straight-to-video. And while the idea of seeing a Jean-Claude Van Damme project may have been off my radar for the past two presidential administrations, the tone of the trailer above -- self-deprecating, self-aware and goofily good-natured -- may, in fact, compel me to care about him again for the first time in almost two decades. Of course, if the film's long on maudlin moments and short on mockery, that'll be another story; I just hope we see more of the irritated, frustrated Van Damme dealing with fans and hangers-on and less of bad dad Van Damme regretting his mistakes.

Jean-Claude Van Damme's blue beret-wearing ways did not appeal to the masses, but this doesn't mean that Capcom won't try again. Over the past year, a new foray into the video game world of Street Fighter has been in the works. The last news came in July, when a script review was out. This time around, the focus will be on tough girl fighter Chun Li and her quest for justice -- she seeks revenge for the murder of her father. Now screenwriter Justin Marks is doing "a polish," and Variety is reporting that the production has tapped its director -- Andrzej Bartkowiak.

The director has some martial arts under his belt with Romeo Must Die, as well as some experience with video game adaptations -- he's the name behind Doom. Bartkowiak is also an experienced cinematographer -- having a hand in everything from Terms of Endearment and Twins to Dante's Peak and Lethal Weapon 4. So he's got the experience, but considering the fact that Doom actually grossed less than the first Street Fighter, which was about a decade earlier, what's the point? Usually when franchises or flicks are freshened, there's some sort of hope behind it. Christopher Nolan made many giddy with excitement when he took over Batman, and he delivered. What on earth can we expect, or hope for, with this project?

It's fascinating to me that I used to live in a world where the films of Jean-Claude Van Damme were popular. At his peak, Jean-Claude was pocketing over 5 million dollars a movie! And them's 1994 dollars! Doesn't that boggle the mind? I mean, Van Damme made a movie in which a Cajun-accented Wilford Brimley rode in slow-motion on horseback with a bow and arrow! If I had to pinpoint the moment when JCVD's career officially died, I'd say it was around the time he made that movie with Dennis Rodman, but believe it or not, he's kept his "acting" career alive ever since. He's had a pretty steady run of straight-to-DVD films playing characters with names like Edward "The Torch" Garrotte. I've always thought "The Muscles from Brussels" could make a decent comeback if he'd only let us know that he's in on the joke. Well, the dude is branching out a bit, but not in the way I'd hoped. He is attempting a horror movie.

Now, you could argue that all of Van Damme's movies have been horrifying in one way or another, but this is said to be his first supernatural thriller. It is called Holy Brood, and according to the film's writer Sheldon Lettich, it "deals with the occult and the supernatural." Lettich calls it a cross between The Exorcist and The X-Files, but "what's different is that it will have Van Damme instead of Father Karras, or Scully and Mulder." In other words, instead of respected actors, it will star a Razzie Award winner who can do the splits. For the three of you who give a Van Damme about Holy Brood, know that you'll have to wait for him to finish production on something called The Smashing Machine first. Yes, The Smashing Machine. By the way, if you've never seen this clip of Van Damme dancing in Kickboxer, I don't think it's overstating things to say that it will forever change your life.

Say whatever you want about video game-to-movie adaptations but some of them actually do make money. Sure, there are also some impressive duds like Doom or Wing Commander, but there are also some adaptations such as Resident Evil, with the third movie of the franchise currently in production, that are very successful. In fact, Resident Evil is the second most successful franchise ever for Sony Pictures -- behind only Spider-Man and its sequel. So, it should come as no surprise that Capcom, publisher of the Resident Evil video games, is looking at its licensing partner Sony and thinking: "Hey, how can we make more money from our video games?"

Well, according to a recent article in The Hollywood Reporter, the video game publisher, whose other titles include Devil May Cry, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Onimusha and the super-successful Street Fighter, has figured out what to do -- make their own movies and work even more closely with Hollywood. Capcom's first foray into production, an adaptation of its video game Street Fighter, is currently in production and slated for a 2008 release. In addition to this move, Capcom has also hired a full-time liaison who will work closely with Hollywood and seek to develop as many ways to license, promote and exploit Capcom titles as possible.

According to the article, the company tapped former THQ exec. Germaine Gioia to serve in the newly created post of senior vp licensing in its Los Angeles office. About her new role developing properties and working very closely with Hollywood studios, Giola said: "I think it could be a fairly important and successful combination. Capcom believes that it's something that they are very interested in trying." Well, I'm sold. Whatever comes out of these new partnerships, one thing's for sure -- the Resident Evil films, while not masterpieces, are still fun and a great way to spend ninety minutes. If Capcom and the studios can continue to put out product like those, I, for one, will keep watching. Especially if Jean-Claude Van Damme stays far, far away from any more Street Fighter movies.