Vin Diesel is an incredibly busy guy. He’s got The Last Witch Hunter coming out this month; a director just signed for Fast and Furious 8, and he’s long teased a return to the world of XXX, too. We recently spoke to Diesel about all those things and he offered up some new, exclusive, information.
According to Diesel, D.J. Caruso, the director of Disturbia, I Am Number Four and Eagle Eye, will be directing XXX 3. The problem is, because of Fast and Furious 8, Diesel isn’t sure when it may happen.
“I’m excited as hell about XXX,” Diesel told us. “D.J. Caruso is directing it, which is exciting. The big question now is which will race to production first now that F. Gary Gray is on [Furious 8]? Will XXX race to production first or will Fast race to production first?”
Considering Furious 8 already has a release date, April 14, 2017, and Diesel has been teasing XXX 3 since 2008, you’d guess Furious 8 would go first. But a director attachment is no little thing.
To step back a bit, the XXX franchise started in 2002 with Diesel playing Xander Cage, an extreme sports expert who becomes a secret agent. It was followed by a 2005 sequel which starred Ice Cube but the third film would bring Diesel back.
“XXX is one of those films you do when you need to have a little fun,” the actor said. “When the weight and pressures of all the other things have gone so far that you need to have a character that you can just have fun and more comment on life and comment on the outcome than being in it like Dom Torretto [from Fast and Furious]. Dom is very much the center of the storm, Xander is more the guide to something else and you’re just with him.”
We’ll have much more from Vin Diesel soon.
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