Update! MTV Movies Blog has debunked Cinefool's scoop that Vin Diesel
won't be returning for XXX 3. According to Diesel's publicist, he's still very much onboard the project.
How ironic, I was just about to sit down and read the script for "XXX : The Return of Xander Cage" when an email flittered in from the guys at
Cinefools advising me of a story they're running suggesting Vin Diesel is no longer attached to the film. Well, guess there goes my reason for reading the script - at least in a hurry (and can go back on the 'unproduced screenplays' pile - those without a must-read-by date on them due to their immobile nature).
Cinefools doesn't know why Diesel has pulled out of the flick, but speculates it may have something to do with Rob Cohen (the "XXX" director who roped back into the franchise) vacating his post as director recently. That wouldn't surprise me, especially since Cohen was probably half the reason Diesel agreed to reprise the role of Xander Cage in the first place (And Cohen's replacement, Ericson Core, isn't exactly a name that screams 'instant hit'). And no doubt it took some coaxing - and carrots - to get him back in the first place. But guessing the project wasn't going in a direction that pleased the big bald blockbusterer.
Still, what a waste of everyone's time and money, right? Even Diesel himself has been training since August to get into shape for the movie. The time spent prepping this one might've been better spent doodling love letters to Universal pleading them to make the second sequel to "Pitch Black", or even "Wheelman".
John Brancato and Michael Ferris ("Terminator Salvation
") wrote the script for "Xander Cage." And from what I've heard, it's 'OK'.
Will the film happen without Diesel? Will Sony
cough up some more bucks to try and entice Diesel back? Will anyone much care whether the film's made or not? (I'm guessing one person won't - Samuel L.Jackson. He's got more work on than an accountant in July)
