This week’s episode of our podcast WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS The Show is up! Hear WAMG’s Cate Marquis, Jim Batts and Tom Stockman talk movies. We’ll discuss the weekend box office and review SPLIT, XXX THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE, THE FOUNDER, JULIETA, and BYE BYE MAN. We’ll also discuss tomorrow morning’s announcement of this years Oscar nominations.
Here’s the show:
It’s time to kick some ass and look dope doing it. Paramount Pictures has released a new trailer for XXX: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE.
In a Facebook first, Vin Diesel launched the new trailer simultaneously across more than 70 Facebook pages live. Other cast members joined the Facebook Live stream via “drop in” videos from around the world.
Vin Diesel Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/
XXX: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE opens in theaters January 20, 2017.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReturnofXanderCageMovie/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/xXxMovie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xXxMovie/
Official Website: http://www.returnofxandercage.com/
#xXxTheMovie
International martial arts star Donnie Yen (“IP MAN”) will square off against Vin Diesel in xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE. Yen will play an alpha-warrior named Xiang in the hotly anticipated sequel, which is shooting in Toronto and the Dominican Republic this month for Revolution Studios, Roth Kirschenbaum Films, One Race Films and Paramount Pictures.
Yen co-stars with producer and star Diesel in a cast that also includes Bollywood star Deepika Padukone (“TAMASHA”), Tony Jaa (“ONG-BAK,” “FURIOUS 7”), Ruby Rose (“Orange Is the New Black”), mixed martial-arts sensation Conor McGregor, Nina Dobrev (“The Vampire Diaries”), Kris Wu (“SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW”), Hermione Corfield (“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION”), with Toni Collette (“THE SIXTH SENSE”) and Samuel L. Jackson (“THE HATEFUL EIGHT”).
D.J. Caruso (“I AM NUMBER FOUR”) is directing xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE. The film is written by Chad St. John (“LONDON HAS FALLEN”) with current revisions by F. Scott Frazier (“COLLIDE”).
Yen is coming off the New Zealand-based shoot of the upcoming “CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: SWORD OF DESTINY,” in which he stars opposite Michelle Yeoh. One of the world’s top martial-arts film stars, Yen is best known in the U.S. for his role opposite Jet Li in director Zhang Yimou’s “HERO,” the third-highest-grossing foreign-language release of all time in the U.S. He co-starred in the Jackie Chan-Owen Wilson action-comedy “SHANGHAI KNIGHTS” and performed the title role in the hugely influential “IP MAN” franchise, one of the highest grossing film series in Chinese history.
Yen’s numerous other films include “DRAGON,” which premiered to acclaim at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and the Chinese blockbuster “THE MONKEY KING” as the Monkey King, opposite Chow Yun-fat. Yen, who was born in Canton, China, and raised in Boston, is one of the top action choreographers and has served as action director in dozens of films and has won numerous awards. He is currently developing a series of films for his own companies, Bullet Group Ltd and Bullet Films Productions, including the epic crime drama “DRAGON CITY.”
“There are only a handful of martial-arts stars who have crossed over to worldwide fame and Donnie Yen is the top of that elite cohort,” said Revolution CEO Vince Totino, who is executive producing the film along with Chief Operating Officer Scott Hemming.
“Donnie’s fighting skill and on-screen charisma make him a perfect foil for Vin,” said producer Joe Roth, who recently partnered with Jeffrey Kirschenbaum in their new venture, Roth Kirschenbaum films. “We are all excited to see these two great action stars go toe to toe.”
Donnie Yen just completed co-starring in ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY for Lucasfilm and Disney.
It was jointly announced today that the new Revolution Studios, Roth Kirschenbaum Films and Vin Diesel’s One Race Films will produce, and Paramount Pictures will distribute worldwide, the next film in the blockbuster “xXx” franchise. Producer and star Vin Diesel will reprise his iconic role as an extreme athlete-turned-superspy in the sequel, xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE.
The film is shooting in Toronto, with additional filming in the Dominican Republic.
D.J. Caruso (“I AM NUMBER FOUR”) is directing xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE. The film is written by Chad St. John (“LONDON HAS FALLEN”) with current revisions by F. Scott Frazier (“COLLIDE”).
The third explosive chapter of the blockbuster franchise that redefined the spy thriller finds extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) coming out of self-imposed exile and on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang and his team in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora’s Box. Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments. Packed with the series’ signature deadpan wit and bad-ass attitude, xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE will raise the bar on extreme action with some of the most mind-blowing stunts to ever be caught on film.
“We are extremely pleased to be working with Vin, Samantha, Joe, Kirsch and Paramount to bring this fan-favorite franchise back to the screen,” said Revolution CEO Vince Totino, who is executive producing the film for the studio along with COO Scott Hemming. “’xXx’ is one of the jewels in Revolution’s rich library of commercially successful and acclaimed films, and now with Vin on board, a great script and director D.J. Caruso on hand, we are poised to deliver a worthy successor.”
“It’s great to be reteaming with Vin and Revolution on a long-anticipated sequel to this highly entertaining film,” said producer Joe Roth, who recently partnered with Jeffrey Kirschenbaum in their new venture, Roth Kirschenbaum Films. “Kirsch and I are looking forward to collaborating with Vince and Scott on this project and we’re all excited to be able to bring the fans what they’ve been asking for.”
Diesel is one of the most successful movie stars of the 21st century. In addition to the “xXx” franchise, which has earned nearly $350 million worldwide, he has starred in two other top-grossing action franchises: the three RIDDICK films, which together took in $267 million worldwide, and THE FAST & THE FURIOUS franchise, which has grossed nearly $3.5 billion worldwide.
The Dominican Republic portion of the shoot will make use of Lantica Media’s Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, production services and its state-of-the-art horizon water tank.
I know you were all holding your breath in anticipation for the next installment in the ‘XXX’ franchise, and, lucky you, it looks like things are moving along just fine. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting ‘XXX: The Return of Xander Cage’ has picked up a director. Ericson Core is stepping in to helm the film that sees the return of Vin Diesel as a former X-Games star turned secret government agent.
Don’t worry if you aren’t entirely sure who Core is. His only previous endeavor into feature filmmaking was 2006’s Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg. He previously served as cinematographer on such films as ‘Payback,’ ‘The Fast and the Furious,’ and ‘Daredevil.’ He will be working from a screenplay by ‘Terminator 3’ and ‘Terminator Salvation’ scripters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris.
‘XXX: The Return of Xander Cage’ was initially set to be directed by Rob Cohen, who directed Diesel in the first ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and the first ‘XXX.’ However, Cohen moved on to direct ‘Medieval’ in June. Columbia, dead-set on getting the third ‘XXX’ feature made with Diesel attached is banking on Core to deliver.
The plan is to begin filming on ‘XXX: The Return of Xander Cage’ early next year.
