If you stretch the definition of the term to include animated companion pieces and video games, then Vin Diesel has already signed on and appeared in a quite frankly mind-blowing 24 sequels or spin-offs throughout his career, and the majority of them focus on just a quartet of characters.
Dominic Toretto, Xander Cage, Richard B. Riddick, and Groot have been the gifts to keep on giving for well over two decades now, and we haven’t even included the fourth installment in the Pitch Black saga as part of the aforementioned number, either, never mind the chrome-domed colossus’ threats to dive back into The Last Witch Hunter or Bloodshot.
And yet, despite being officially announced in September of 2018 before confirming Jay Chou and Zoe Zhang for the ensemble two months later, a fourth xXx remains lodged firmly in the deepest and darkest bowels of development hell.
As part of production company The H Collective’s expansion with offshoot company H3 Entertainment, though, it was noted that “the slate has also included a fourth installment in the xXx franchise, but there’s no update on progress on that project.”
The last semi-concrete update had the return of Xander Cage – ironically a sequel to Return of Xander Cage – reaching a stalemate over rights issues and legal red tape, grinding the IP to a halt after it made a remarkably successful return following Ice Cube’s ill-fated attempt to take over in all-time box office bomb State of the Union.
It may or may not end up even happening, but you can bet your bottom dollar on Diesel refusing to give up on anything that allows him to reprise a role.