Jean-Claude Van Damme will be joining the Canadian indie production Pound of Flesh as the lead role. Action Director Ernie Barbarash (6 Bullets) and veteran fight choreographer John Salvitti will lead the production. Joshua James wrote the script, and the project is being co-produced by Ace Studio and Odyssey Media.

Van Damme, the 53 year old  Belgian actor, director, and martial artist who rose to fame in the late 1980s and early ’90s with pics such as Bloodsport (1988), Universal Soldier (1992) and Timecop (1994) has made a career of action films slightly off the beaten path. He’s never quite risen to Schwarzenegger or Stallone levels of fame, but has been surprisingly consistent through the years and starred alongside both action stalwarts in The Expendables 2 (2012). He’s also recently starred in Enemies Closer and Barbarash’s 6 Bullets in addition to a voice role in Kung Fu Panda 2.

In Pound of Flesh, Van Damme will portray a man in China who rescues a woman in trouble one night but finds his good deed rewarded with a missing kidney the next morning. We’re given to believe that (in true Van Damme style) he’ll then go hunting down his assailants, leading to plenty of martial arts action along the way. No other actors have been announced yet.

In a statement, Van Damme said, “I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into Pound of Flesh because it’s exactly the kind of character-driven action thriller I and my fans love best – a movie that delivers nonstop hardcore action that’s fueled by a really surprising story and real people you care about from the moment you meet them on screen.”

The film will be shot in March 2014 on location in China.