Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody go to war in this trailer for DRAGON BLADE!

There was a time when a big budget war epic starring Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody would have had me salivating like Darryn eating a Bhut Jolokia. Fast forward several years though, and only one of those three names actually still hold any appeal to me. Spoiler alert: It’s the guy who can still do crazy monkey kung fu.

Despite the cult success and big time awards that precipitated the start of their careers, Cusack and Brody appear to have settled into the “Nicolas Cage” stage of the lives, where they will sleep-act their way through just about any piece of dreck for a paycheck. While Chan hasn’t had a major international hit in a while, he’s clearly still trying and still has the tools to impress.

So have Cusack and Brody dragged Chan down to their Cage-y level with Dragon Blade, an upcoming period piece war epic from writer/director Daniel Lee (Black Mask, 14 Blades) that mixes classic Roman and Chinese history together? Surprisingly, that doesn’t appear to be the case – well, mostly – as this first trailer for the flick shows off a sweeping historical action pic with grand set-pieces and impressive looking visual effects. Also, Adrien Brody hams things up like a pig farmer – which is where the “mostly” disclaimer comes in.

Check it out below.

When corrupt Roman leader Tiberius (Adrien Brody) arrives with a giant army to claim the Silk Road, Huo An (Jackie Chan) and his group of trained warriors teams up with an elite legion of defected Roman soldiers led by General Lucius (John Cusack) to maintain the delicate balance of power in the region. To protect his country and his new friends, Huo An gathers the warriors of thirty-six ethnic nations together to fight Tiberius in an incredible epic battle.

Dragon Blade already debuted in China earlier in the year, where it was a gigantic success, already bringing in $120 million on its $65 million budget, and that’s from the Asian market alone. It will be adding to that total when it has an international VOD release on September 4, 2015.

Last Updated: June 24, 2015