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Universal Soldier is an action science fiction film series started from the 1992 original same title film written by Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch and Dean Devlin, directed by Roland Emmerich, and distributed by TriStar Pictures. The main plot concentrates on the reanimated soldier, Luc Deveraux, portraited by Jean-Claude Van Damme, and includes two non-canon sequels, where the protagonist is absent.

[edit] Van Damme series

Universal Soldier is a 1992 science fiction film, directed by Roland Emmerich, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as soldiers who kill each other in Vietnam but are reanimated in a secret Army project along with a large group of other previously dead soldiers.

Universal Soldier: The Return, released in 1999, was the second theatrical film in the Universal Soldier series, following two made-for-TV movies, Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business. The Return was directed by Mic Rodgers and starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, professional wrestler Bill Goldberg, Heidi Schanz, Kiana Tom and Xander Berkeley as Dr. Dylan Kotner. To date, this is the last Van Damme film to have a wide-release in U.S. theatres, and the last to have any theatrical release until 2008's JCVD which had a limited theatrical release. In addition, Universal Soldier: Regeneration is planned for a early 2010 release.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration^[1] is the upcoming third film in the Universal Soldier series. The film will be directed by John Hyams, screenplay by Victor Ostrovsky and will star Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme, both reprising their roles from previous films in the series.

[edit] Retconned spinoffs

The following movies were removed from the canon of Universal Soldier films when Van Damme returned to the franchise.

Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms is a 1998 direct-to-video science fiction film, sequel to the 1992 film Universal Soldier. Despite featuring the same characters as the original, the film features none of the original cast or crew. It was followed the same year with another sequel titled Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business. In 1999, a theatrical sequel, once again starring Van Damme, Universal Soldier: The Return was produced, which essentially ignored the plotline of the direct-to-video sequels entirely.

[edit] References

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