I always thought that xXx was a franchise for Vin Diesel, and I was really surprised to hear about him being killed off in the new DVD release and while being doubled as well, just to make room for the new xXx. On About.com through Coming Soon Rob Cohen speaks a little about it, and some of his comments are rather interesting.
I think there√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a sadistic level of enjoyment to be had with taking down any kind of leading man character…
…Why didn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t you ask Vin Diesel play Xander Cage’s one last time?: You mean to have himself killed? I didn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t think he would do it and I didn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want to ask him. The truth is, it’s a little weird to say, “Hey, come over and let’s make sure you don’t get $20 million for any sequel.”
Now, thats interesting, note that.
Will you kill Ice Cube on the next DVD?: No, there’s no reason to kill Ice Cube because he’s not laying claim to the franchise. Anyone who lays claim to the franchise, I guess including me, has to be killed off. Revolution eats its young.
Okay, so he’s changed track here slightly, now he’s suggesting that Diesel layed claim to it and that wasn’t well liked. Even the interviewer thought that the whole xXx thing was supposed to be a franchise for him. Well, not any more. Same for Mr Cube, Cohen wants to make it as per “the original idea” which was a bunch of different anti-heroes, and this one he’s keen on a female lead. As I read that I immediately thought of Michelle Rodriguez and he agrees, and also suggests current hot actress Michelle Yeoh.
Would you direct XXX 3 if it were a woman?: If there was a woman, if Joe and Todd would go with a woman, I would definitely come back because I think the women today are tougher than the men.
Should I argue with that and start a war? Anyway…we saw the trailer for Pacifier at the cinema and someone said “Why didn’t Vin to xXx2?” then we saw that trailer and the voice said “Ah, that’s why.” I haven’t seen it, but by all accounts a return by Cohen might well be called for.
