It was jointly announced today that the new Revolution Studios, Roth Kirschenbaum Films and Vin Diesel's One Race Films will produce, and Paramount Pictures will distribute worldwide, the next film in the blockbuster xXx franchise. Producer and star Vin Diesel will reprise his iconic role as an extreme athlete-turned-superspy in the sequel, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. The film is shooting in Toronto, with additional filming in the Dominican Republic.
D.J. Caruso (I Am Number Four) is directing xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. The film is written by Chad St. John (London Has Fallen) with current revisions by F. Scott Frazier (Collide). The third explosive chapter of the blockbuster franchise that redefined the spy thriller finds extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) coming out of self-imposed exile and on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang and his team in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora's Box.
Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments. Packed with the series' signature deadpan wit and bad-ass attitude, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage will raise the bar on extreme action with some of the most mind-blowing stunts to ever be caught on film. Revolution CEO Vince Totino, who is executive producing the film for the studio along with COO Scott Hemming, had this to say in his statement.
"We are extremely pleased to be working with Vin, Samantha (Vincent), Joe (Roth), (Jeff) Kirschenbaum and Paramount to bring this fan-favorite franchise back to the screen. xXx is one of the jewels in Revolution's rich library of commercially successful and acclaimed films, and now with Vin on board, a great script and director D.J. Caruso on hand, we are poised to deliver a worthy successor."
Diesel is one of the most successful movie stars of the 21st century. In addition to the xXx franchise, which has earned nearly $350 million worldwide, he has starred in two other top-grossing action franchises: the three Riddick films, which together took in $267 million worldwide, and The Fast and the Furious franchise, which has grossed nearly $3.5 billion worldwide. Here's what producer Joe Roth, who recently partnered with Jeff Kirschenbaum in their new venture, Roth Kirschenbaum Films, had to say in his statement.
"It's great to be reteaming with Vin and Revolution on a long-anticipated sequel to this highly entertaining film. Kirsch and I are looking forward to collaborating with Vince and Scott on this project and we're all excited to be able to bring the fans what they've been asking for."
The Dominican Republic portion of the shoot will make use of Lantica Media's Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, production services and its state-of-the-art horizon water tank. Production has been under way on xXx: The Return of Xander Cage since January, with a supporting cast that includes Deepika Padukone, Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, UFC fighter Conor McGregor and martial arts legend Jet Li. Stay tuned for more from xXx: The Return of Xander Cage as production continues in Toronto. Check out the first official photo from the movie, along with two behind-the-scenes images.
