‘XXX 3: Return of Xander Cage’ Cast, Updates: Vin Diesel Complains About Length of Film, Left Speechless After Watching Preview

‘XXX 3: Return of Xander Cage’ is set to feature Vin Diesel as the titular hero. Diesel complained about the length of the film in a recent post on social media but admitted that he was left speechless after watching the preview.

According to Movie Web, Diesel took to social media to air his displeasure at D.J. Caruso’s upcoming sequel in the ‘XXX’ film franchise. He said, “I don't want to say anything negative, but I have to be honest. If there was one complaint I had about xXx the first cut, it's too short. I wanted more. When people have been waiting fifteen years for this franchise to return, you can't just give them an hour and a half. It's not fair because you just want more."

Diesel is set to reprise his role as the titular Xander Cage, an extreme sports enthusiast-turned-NSA spy. He was first introduced as Xander Cage in director Rob Cohen’s 2002 film ‘XXX’ directed by Rob Cohen but skipped out of the second film ‘XXX: State of the Union’. He was replaced by Ice Cube as lead protagonist.

The first film in the action franchise received mixed reviews but was deemed commercial success after earning $277.45 million worldwide against a budget of $70 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

However, the sequel with Ice Cube earned generally negative reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office. It grossed only $71.02 million on a production budget of $87 million.

The upcoming film will follow Xander as he comes out of a self-imposed exile for a tough new assignment with handler Augustus Gibbons. He is set to race against time to recover a deadly weapon known as the Pandora’s Box.

Although Diesel complained about the length of the film, he admitted that he was left speechless after seeing it for himself. According to Dark Horizons, he said, “[Paramount] is so poised to do something so amazing with XXX. I was speechless after watching the movie. I felt like it’s been a long time coming. The spirit of individuality that plays in the movie is kind of refreshing and kind of timely… I mean the cast is sensational. You could see why they were all having so much fun, and why we had so much fun making the movie.

In addition to Diesel, other members of the new cast include Nina Dobrev, Deepika Padukone, Ruby Rose, Toni Collette, Rory McCann, Donnie Yen, and Tony Jaa. Caruso is directing from a script prepared by F. Scott Frazier and Chad St. John.

‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’ is an upcoming action thriller film scheduled to be released on January 20, 2017. It is produced by Maple Cage Productions, One Race Films, Rox Productions and Revolution Studios, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures in the United States.