Could the Return of Xander Cage spark a bona fide franchise revival at Paramount? It appears so, as Vin Diesel is now weighing up the possibility of xXx 4.
The actor, who is currently doing press rounds in anticipation of D.J. Caruso’s action threequel slamming into theaters next week, spoke to Variety about the future of one Xander Cage. And though it’s been more than a decade since Diesel headlined the cult action series, screaming “I live for this shit!” at the top of his lungs, xXx: Return of Xander Cage may well leave the door open for future installments – if Paramount has its way, at least.
Per Variety: “I was in the middle of an interview and Brad Grey — who runs Paramount — calls me and says, ‘Will everybody come back to work in May?’ I’m like – everyone’s in interviews right now!”
However that may be, the potential future of the xXx series will no doubt hinge on Return of Xander Cage‘s box office takings. A mid-January release window isn’t one to inspire confidence, but Caruso’s sequel looks set to embrace its B-movie credentials wholeheartedly. Whether that tongue-in-cheek attitude is enough to bring in the moviegoing masses remains to be seen, but one would assume that xXx 3 will need to gross around $350-400 million to warrant a fourth installment. For the sake of comparison, back in 2002, the original xXx movie collected $277 million at the international box office – the less said about State of the Union the better – but the real question is whether there’s still a demand for Vin Diesel’s forgotten adrenaline junkie after all these years.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage, also starring Deepika Padukone, Samuel L. Jackson and Ruby Rose, will make its bow on Friday, January 20, and only then will we have a better understanding of the franchise’s future – or lack thereof.
