The xXx action franchise which got off to a decent start then floundered with a sequel that lost its original star Vin Diesel before he returned for the third part was always going to have problems numbering its sequels. We only say this because the trend for using Roman numerals to label the sequels meant that xXx II, xXx III and now xXx IV became increasingly incomprehensible and if it ever gets to 10 films as the Fast & Furious films are on target to achieve then xXx X makes little if any sense.
Thankfully part 3 became The return of Xander Cage and the return of the increasingly pot- bellied Vin Diesel who appeared to be wearing a sheep in the last film earned a decent $345m whereas the original had earned $277m although the second film, which temporarily replaced Vin with Ice Cube, earned a paltry $71m.
So with the franchise rejuvenated by the third film production company’s The H Collective and Vin Diesel’s One Race Films have made made a business pact and bought the rights to the “xXx” franchise from Revolution Studios. Unsurprisingly the joint venture between the two companies means they an now proceed with xXx 4 and filming will begin in December 2018 for a summer 2019 release. The H Collective will mostly finance the project along with several other investment partners.
Returning to direct xXx 4 will be D.J. Caruso, who helmed “xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” with Diesel both starring and producing the film along with Samantha Vincent, Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum.
The central theme of an extreme sports enthusiast turned reluctant spy will continue but we can’t help but feel that as Vin Diesel turns 51 this year the sight of a middle aged man with, if Fast and Furious 8 is anything to go by, an ever expanding paunch is not so different from watching your dad dancing to The Prodigy at a wedding disco.
