Donnie Yen Replaces Jet Li in XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE; Read Film's Official Synopsis

Movie XXX: The Return of Xander Cage Vin Diesel Donnie Yen Jet Li about 8 years agoby Ben Pearson

Yesterday, Paramount Pictures announced that the studio would be distributing Vin Diesel's upcoming sequel xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. They also revealed the first official synopsis for the film, which you can read below:

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.

Diesel himself also had some news yesterday. He shared the following photo on Facebook:

Director, Xiang and Xander...Donnie Yen's first day on set.Our global cast is simply amazing!
Posted by Vin Diesel on Thursday, February 11, 2016

Apparently Jet Li abruptly dropped out of the film for mysterious reasons, but the production managed to quickly replace him in the Xiang role with Donnie Yen, who is battling Mike Tyson in Ip Man 3 and fighting space battles in the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Li was supposed to face off against fellow martial artist/actor Tony Jaa in the movie, but now we'll get to see a Jaa vs. Yen fight, which frankly sounds more exciting to me.

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage doesn't have an official release date yet, but we'll keep you posted as soon as we hear about one. In the meantime, you can head to Diesel's Facebook page for more behind-the-scenes photos and videos, including one in which he talks about taking longboarding "to the next level."

Via: BMD