You might’ve noticed by the complete lack of recent news that Hollywood basically took the whole Independence Day week off from work. But if you were expecting some massive announcements now that the fireworks are over and Bill Pullman saved the world, you’d be not quite correct…

Anyway, Samuel L. Jackson has joined director Doug Liman’s Jumper, a contemporary sci-fi story about a teenager named Davy (played by Jamie Bell) who discovers he has the ability to teleport, a skill he uses to flee his abusive father and seek his missing mother. Jackson plays an NSA agent who tracks the lad and yells with authority.

It’s hard not to like Sam Jackson (Snakes on a Plane alone buys a lot of goodwill), but it’s also hard not to notice that he’ll basically make whatever project gets put in front of him. And he’s played soldiers, cops and government agents so often he’s probably been granted some kind of honorary law enforcement capabilities. And he’s not ready to change, gat dammit! Gotta fill that void left by the apparent demise of the XXX “franchise”.

Jumper is an adaptation of Steven Gould’s books, and Regency Enterprises are aiming for a trilogy. And if Liman’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is any indication, it’ll probably be glossy, expensive and vapid.