xXx: The Return of Xander Cage

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage only made $44 million in the U.S. last January against a reported $85 million budget. But it also grossed an incredible $301 million overseas, where star Vin Diesel remains an even bigger draw than he is here in the States. Weird belly tattoos, it seems, are the international language of love.

Vin Diesel quickly rose through the ranks of Hollywood after Steven Spielberg cast him in a small role in his war film Saving Private Ryan. But did you know Spielberg hired Diesel after admiring his work in a short film that Diesel himself wrote and directed? The film, titled Multi-Facial, was shot in three days for just $3,000, and starred Diesel in a loosely autobiographical story about his struggles in the film industry. The short was widely acclaimed, and even played the Cannes Film Festival. That’s just one of the facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Is it safe to say that M. Night Shyamalan is back? He got his foot in the door a few years ago when The Visit opened to $25 million and went on to make $65 million against a budget of only $5 million, but with the release of Split, he’s officially sitting on the couch, eating your chips and drinking your beer. However, the same could not be said for xXx: Return of Xander Cage, which opened to more lackluster numbers.

The cast of xXx: Return of Xander Cage is nothing short of ridiculous — in a good, mind-boggling way — combining the forces of Vin Diesel with Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann, Ruby Rose, Donnie Yen, and Nina Dobrev, and that’s not even half of the new team made up of “the good, the extreme, and the completely insane.” If you’re not too blown away by the prospect of motorcycling through waves, a new TV spot reveals the return of a familiar face.

Vin Diesel is a pro when it comes to doing awesome things in places where they should not be done. He drove a muscle car out of a skyscraper in the most recent installment of the Fastly Furious franchise. In 2005 family comedy The Pacifier, Diesel brought white-knuckle secret agent action to a sleepy suburban neighborhood. And in a newly revealed clip from the upcoming xXx sequel Return of Xander Cage, he straps on a pair of skis and speeds through the jungle like it’s an Alpine black diamond trail. This is the poetry and pain of Vin Diesel, always pulling the raddest of stunts in the unlikeliest of spots — unstuck in time and place, an innovator unappreciated in his era, the Van Gogh of shredding the gnar.

With 2016 finally drawing to a close, we can now turn our attention to the bumper crop of ridiculous blockbusters zooming around the corner towards us next year. One of these is xXx: Return of Xander Cage, which will see Vin Diesel return to the franchise built upon the probably drug-induced idea of “Guys, what if… extreme athletes… fought crime?” This week, Paramount gifted us with a new clip that pits Vin Diesel and Donnie Yen against not only each other, but also the forces of Nature itself.

Christmas means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To the devout, it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ and the symbolic coming of mankind’s heaven-sent savior to the earthly plane. To countless more, it’s a time when we gather together with family and loved ones to share in peace on earth, goodwill toward men, and beverages that combine that wonders of alcohol and dairy. To children, it is one of the several annual occasions on which you get presents. And to adrenaline addicts who like to live life to the limit even when slouching in for an afternoon at the cineplex, it’s when xXx: The Return of Xander Cage parkours into theaters.

“Kick some a--. Get the girl. And try to look dope while you’re doing it.” Seems simple enough, right? Especially when you’re an extreme-athlete-turned-secret-government-operative like Xander Cage is, for example. Vin Diesel is back in action in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and the newest trailer has stunts that may be even more ridiculous than the ocean-motorcycling that was in the first teaser. They certainly look dope, that’s for sure.

Remember how there’s going to be another xXx movie? Remember how the trailer has Vin Diesel skiing through a jungle? Remember how it’s going to be awesome? Well, in case you forgot it was happening, Paramount released a dozen new character posters for xXx: Return of Xander Cage’s ridiculously large cast.

After sitting out xXx: State of the Union, Vin Diesel returns to the role of EXTREME sports enthusiast Xander Cage in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. The first trailer for the reasonably titled sequel has arrived online, offering a sneak peek at Diesel and his new team of EXTREME sports pals and all their EXTREME sports skills — like skiing in the forest in the middle of summer — that will come in handy when they take on an international conspiracy.