Joe Carnahan is a busy man. Not content with ramping up production for a third Bad Boys film (endearingly titled Bad Boy for Life, missing the opportunity to go all the way to Bad Men) and writing the forthcoming Uncharted movie for Shawn Levy he is also gathering his cast for the action thriller Five Against a Bullet.

The film, which Carnahan is rewriting from a previous script by Alex Litvak, sets its scene in Mexico, where a Mayoral candidate hires a team of five bodyguards to protect him from the drug cartel who killed his father. It’s a fine set up, with a solid foundation for plenty of action, and today it was revealed that Jackie Chan would be playing one of the titular Five.

Way back in 2010 Bruce Willis was rumoured to be approaching the cast, though the similarly-themed action hero team up Red, also 2010, may have been a little too close to the bone. There’s no word if Willis is still in the frame, but with the casting of Chan this may well be a multi-disciplined global action hero cast. The potential for different fighting styles is certainly something a diverse action cast will provide. It is also something that action fans drip-fed by The Expendables would look out.

Chan continues to amaze with his tireless efforts to be in every film currently in production. His lifetime’s work (of which he shows no signs of slowing) will be lauded next year with an Honourary Academy Award for being the nicest, most hard-working movie star on the planet – an award Dwayne Johnson will certainly inherit at some point in the future.

As with every film we report on this film is said to be the first in a growing franchise – sort of like Enid Bylton’s Five… adventures but with nunchucks. With Chan on board, and the cast set to grow, our interest in this one is piqued. Bring it on Carnahan.