xXx2:FilmJerk has posted the status of the xXx sequel...

According to FilmJerk.com sources close to the production, Columbia Pictures’ “XXX2: State of the Union” will begin shooting in mid-July, with locations set to include Los Angeles, Baltimore and the nation’s capital. The sequel to 2002’s “XXX,” this installment will do without the original’s pairing of star Vin Diesel and director Rob Cohen.

Along with confirmed leads Ice Cube and Samuel L. Jackson, the sequel has signed Michael Roof to return to the sequel, reprising his role as National Security Agency techie Toby Lee Shavers.

Director Lee Tamahori (2002’s “Die Another Day”) is currently working to refine the current draft of the script, originally written by Rich Wilkes. According to one source, “While the first film had Vin Diesel’s Xander Cage facing thugs from around the world, the sequel will find.a new XXX program agent, Darius Stone, embroiled in thwarting...a Washington power struggle.”