As has become his thing, Vin Diesel took to social media to provide an update for one of his projects. This time, the actor and Fast & Furious star took to Instagram to reveal that his sequel to xXx will go before cameras this December.
A photo posted by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on
xXx marks the second time Diesel has returned to a franchise that he had bailed on. When the actor opted not to return for 2 Fast 2 Furious, the sequel to his 2001 hit The Fast and The Furious, new characters were introduced to fill the void left by his absence. Then, after a brief cameo at the tail end of the franchise’s third installment, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, Diesel made a full on return to the series and has appeared in all four sequels that have come out since.
In the case of xXx, the 2002 action film made more than 3x its budget at the box office but was critically a “love it or hate it” proposition. When producers wanted to move forward with a sequel, Diesel- again- decided not to return, citing schedule conflicts. So for 2005’s xXx: State of The Union, Ice Cube was brought in as an all-new character to anchor the film with. State of The Union was a flop across the board. It failed to make back its budget, and critics torched it. Then in 2014, word hit the street that Diesel was set to return for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. Since then, things have been quiet. So this update is good news for fans of the original, who’ve wanted to see the continued adventures of Xander Cage.
Where do you fall in all this? Excited to see Diesel return to the world of xXx? Personally, I feel like Diesel is sort of falling into that Sylvester Stallone zone- which isn’t a bad thing. Over the years, Stallone was able to build himself up into an international superstar who’d attempt to try new things, but would always end up going back to Rocky Balboa and John Rambo. In Diesel’s case, he’s got Riddick, Dom Toretto, and now he’s trying to revive Xander Cage. Will these roles define Diesel’s career the way Rocky and Rambo defined Stallone’s? Or do you think there’s more ground for Diesel to explore in the years to come?
SOURCE: Instagram