Tyler Lyon August 24th, 2015 - 3:24 PM
Not one to shy away from making announcements on social media, Vin Diesel (Furious 7) has announced to his 10MM+ Instagram followers that he will start filming xXx: The Return of Xander Cage in the Philippines this December.
The post highlight Diesel’s role in the original film, xXx, in 2002, release in which he played Xander Cage, an extreme sports athlete recruited by the government for a special mission. A sequel, xXx: State of the Union, was released in 2005 starring Ice Cube (Fist Fight). In the sequel, it was mentioned that Xander Cage was thought to have been killed in action. Given Diesel’s involvement, not to mention the title, it looks like that was not the case.
The announcement is the latest in Diesel making news via his social media pages. In the past, he teased his role in Guardians of the Galaxy, where he played Groot, and also announced The Last Witch Hunter 2 on Facebook, despite the first movie not being released until October.
Along with The Last Witch Hunter, Diesel will be seen soon in the new Iraq war film from Ang Lee (The Life of Pi), Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, as well as Furious 8.
Despite shooting in December, there are questions revolving around xXx: The Return of Xander Cage‘s director. In its original inception, xXx director Rob Cohen (The Boy Next Door) was all set to direct. When he left due to a scheduling conflict in 2009, Ericson Core (Point Break) was brought on to replace Cohen. However in 2010, Cohen announced he was coming back to the film. Despite this, Cohen isn’t listed on the sequel’s IMDb page, nor is the film listed on Cohen’s page. Other than Diesel, the cast has also been kept under wraps.
We’ll have more on the film as it develops, leading up to its filming and eventual release.
