Although it turned out he wouldn’t be joining Jean-Claude Van Damme in his next movie after all, there’s no denying that the trajectory of Wesley Snipes has been landing him on the same shelves occupied by the recent ventures of JCVD.  Does the former Daywalker have a chance to change that?

Possibly. Snipes is reuniting with his New Jack City co-star and director Mario Van Peebles for Hard Luck (which possibly contributed to the confusion that he’d be appearing in Van Damme’s The Hard Corps).  The movie, described as a “pulpy thriller”, involves three intertwining stories concerning drug dealers, a serial killer, stolen narcotics and a bootleg ring. Cybil Shepherd, hot off portraying Martha Stewart (twice!), also stars in Van Peebles’ latest directing effort after his excellent Baadasssss!

Snipes is also starring with Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) and Shu Qi (The Transporter) in Kiss of the Dragon director Chris Nahon’s Chasing the Dragon (not a Jetless sequel), playing an FBI agent hunting a notorious drug lord. Meanwhile, Wesley’s Blade uniform is now being filled by raptor Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones, who’ll be turning bloodsuckers to ash on Spike TV’s pilot and potential series about the minor Marvel character.