Be careful what you wish for. Vin Diesel appears to be diving into work on xXx 4, the follow-up to xXx, xXx: State of the Union, and xXx: Return of Xander Cage. He shared a photo from the 2017 Xander Cage movie, with this question to fans:
Heading into a xXx meeting this weekend... Who would you like to see added to the xXx League?
As you might expect, Vin Diesel got a lot of responses to his question. Some were serious suggestions of stars they'd like to see join the franchise. Other comments were snarky shots at the most recent film.
Here's just a small sample of the replies (left in raw form):
• Good writers. Last XXX was terrible and I love the first one.• Sandra bullock or Angelina jolie• get al pacino. robert de nero and harvey keitel along with michelle pffiefer, meryl streep and julia roberts - GO OLD SKOOL!! that would be good.• Groot• dont make it the last one was terrible! im a big fan but that was absolute rubbis[h] mate• Jason Momoa and Amber Heard• Ryan Gosling or Adam Levine or Dave Navarro a pretty boy maybe MGK• Jason Stathom The rock Tyrese Gibson• Tom Hardy.• Michelle rodriguez be good• @priyankachopra• Tom Hardy, Jason Momoa ????? make it happen• I have three favorites to join xxx 4 like dacre Montgomery, michael b jordan, and minka kelly• John krasinski, chris pratt, chad lindberg• Mark Wahlberg and O'Shea Jackson Jr• Get Bruce Willis or Stallone or Arnold , tom hardy would be good too!• Make it like the original. Original xxx was badass same thing like the first fast and the furious. It was about cars and a little bit about action now it's all about Hollywood action and it ruins everything. Xxx was simple. Badass cars, hot women, and badass guns. The motorsports fans dream• Sylvester stallone @officialslystallone• Henry Cavill. That's who! And have Ice Cube's character team up with you• Jackie Chan as Bad guy for once!!!!
The replies include a lot of Vin Diesel's own Fast and Furious co-stars. He'd probably want to keep the franchises separate, but you never know. Tom Hardy's name came up a lot too. If he has time before his inevitable return as Venom, maybe he'll consider it. Aquaman star Jason Momoa and Rambo/Rocky Sylvester Stallone got name-dropped more than once as well. Partner one of them with Meryl Streep and let's go. Check Vin Diesel's Instagram if you're curious to see the other suggestions.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage has a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 37% audience score. The 2002 xXx movie has a fairly similar 48% rating, with a higher 58% audience score. The 2005 movie xXx: State of the Union, which starred Ice Cube, has a dismal 17% rating with a 32% audience score.
Money-wise, though, the first film made $277,448,382 worldwide off a $70 million production budget, per Box Office Mojo. State of the Union made only $71,022,693 worldwide, which is probably because Vin Diesel wasn't the star. When Diesel returned as Xander Cage, his 2017 movie made $346,147,658 worldwide (off a reported $85M budget), becoming the most successful film of the franchise to date.
So it's no wonder Vin Diesel is coming back for a fourth movie in the franchise, and the third for his Xander Cage. This time there's a change of leadership behind the scenes, suggesting more control for Vin Diesel.
It's not clear how far along xXx 4 already is in the process. He may have just put that Instagram post out there to keep fans engaged. Or maybe he'll take the suggestions very seriously, as both star and producer of the franchise, and try to book some of those names. After all, the fans make films happen. They are paying to see more, so it makes sense for a potential blockbuster to listen to their ideas.
Return of Xander Cage was pretty star-studded -- with Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Ruby Rose, Tony Jaa, Nina Dobrev, Toni Collette, and Samuel L. Jackson. So it's not out of the question to get more major stars to show up for xXx 4.
Last September, Variety reported that production on the fourth xXx movie was expected to begin in early 2019. So ... very soon. But Vin Diesel is also busy with his Bloodshot, movie. Stay tuned for more details on both films. Here's what we do know is coming to theaters in 2019.
