Vin Diesel, The H Collective Acquire ‘xXx’ Franchise Rights Before Fourth Installment
The H Collective and Vin Diesel/One Race Films have acquired rights to the xXx franchise from Revolution Studios, and Diesel will reprise his role as Xander Cage in the fourth installment that will go before cameras in December 2018. D.J. Caruso, who helmed last year’s xXx: Return of Xander Cage, is returning as director.
Under the deal, Revolution Studios retains rights to the first three films which have collectively grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide. The franchise, however, has been steadily losing audiences domestically. Xander Cage only opened to $20.1M in its debut weekend in January last year and ran out of gas at $44.8M. The first xXx opened 2002 and hauled in $142.1M domestically.
In China, Diesel’s return to the franchise after Ice Cube starred in the interim was welcome news. China accounting for the bulk of Xander Cage‘s $69.3M overseas debut, so, it’s no wonder why Chinese-backed The H Collective would be interested in the franchise. In fact, the actioner ended up as the biggest three-day opening for a Hollywood film that bowed in a February and also the second-biggest Imax February debut in China (behind The Monkey King 2).
Xander Cage was tailor-made for international audiences and cast accordingly with Chinese star Donnie Yen featured prominently in ads in China.
For the fourth installment of xXx, Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum will again produce with Diesel and Samantha Vincent for One Race Films and The H Collective.
The H Collective will finance xXx 4 with investment partners that include Sparkle Roll Media, HCH Media, Dadi Cinema and Angeleno Studio. It is currently in production on an untitled horror film being produced by James Gunn and starring Elizabeth Banks. It’s also in post on Christopher Cantwell’s The Parts You Lose.
The H Collective launched in June of last year on the news there would be a fourth xXx movie. The company came about when it pacted with the producer team of Sid Ganis and Nancy Hult Ganis, producer Mark Johnson, and Roth and Kirschenbaum. The goal has been to finance and/or produce four projects a year over the next four years, with the fourth installment of xXx at its slate’s centerpiece.
The H Collective also recently formed a management arm with Chinese stars Li Bingbing and Karry Wang among the firm’s first talent.
Diesel is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners; Caruso is repped by CAA and Media Talent Group.
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