Jump to content

XXX (film series)

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tunnelofgloves (talk | contribs) at 19:30, 12 July 2017 (→The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

xXx
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
StarringSee below
Cinematography
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 1: August 9, 2002
  • 2: April 29, 2005
  • 3: January 20, 2017
Running time
220 minutes[1] >[2]
Country
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetTotal (3 films):
$215 million
Box officeTotal (3 films):
$656,539,421[3]

xXx (pronounced as Triple X) is an American action film franchise created by Rich Wilkes. The franchise stars Vin Diesel and Ice Cube and consists of three films: xXx (2002), xXx: State of the Union (2005) and xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017), and a short film: The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage. The series has grossed $656 million worldwide.

Films

xXx (2002)

Main article: XXX (2002 film)

The film was released on August 9, 2002, which stars Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, a thrill seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious athlete-turned-reluctant spy for the National Security Agency who is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a group of potential Russian terrorists in Central Europe. The film also stars Asia Argento, Marton Csokas and Samuel L. Jackson. It was directed by Rob Cohen, who previously directed The Fast and the Furious (2001), in which Diesel also starred.

xXx: State of the Union (2005)

Main article: XXX: State of the Union

The film was released on April 29, 2005, which stars Ice Cube as Darius Stone, a new agent in the Triple X program, who is sent to Washington, DC to defuse a power struggle amongst national leaders.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)

Main article: xXx: Return of Xander Cage

The film was released on January 20, 2017, sees the return of Diesel as Xander Cage who comes out of self-imposed exile, thought to be long dead, and is set on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior 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.[4]

Future

In an interview with Variety, Diesel revealed that Paramount has already contacted him about returning for a fourth film, even going so far as asking him if he and other cast members would be willing to get to work sometime in May.[5]

Short film

The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage

Included with the 2005 director's cut DVD of the first film is a four-minute short titled The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage, that serves as a prequel to xXx: State of the Union by detailing the alleged death of Xander Cage before the events of that film.

In the short film, Xander is played by Vin Diesel's stunt double Khristian Lupo (who never shows his face or speaks) while reusing some archival lines spoken by Diesel. It also features Leila Arcieri as Jordan King from the first film and John G. Connolly as Lt. Colonel Alabama "Bama" Cobb, one of the villains from xXx: State of the Union, as the man behind the attack on Xander.

Cast

Characters Films Short film
xXx xXx:
State of the Union 		xXx:
Return of Xander Cage 		The Final Chapter:
The Death of Xander Cage
2002 2005 2017 2005
Xander Cage
xXx 		Vin Diesel Vin Diesel Khristian Lupo
Vin Diesel (archive recordings)
NSA Agent Augustus Eugene Gibbons Samuel L. Jackson  
Darius Stone
xXx 		  Ice Cube  
Toby Lee Shavers Michael Roof  
Jordan King Leila Arcieri Leila Arcieri
Alabama "Bama" Cobb   John G. Connolly   John G. Connolly
Yorgi Martin Csokas
Yelena Asia Argento
Milan Sova Richy Müller
Kirill Werner Daehn
Kolya Petr Jákl
Viktor Jan Pavel Filipensky
California State Senator Dick Hotchkiss Tom Everett
El Jefe Danny Trejo
NSA Agent Jim McGrath Thomas Ian Griffth
J.J. Eve
NSA Agent Roger Donnan William Hope
Ivan Pedgrag Radek Tomecka
Ivan Podrov Martin Hub
General George Deckert   Willem Dafoe  
NSA Agent Kyle Christopher Steele   Scott Speedman  
U.S. President James Sanford   Peter Strauss  
Zeke   Xzibit  
Charlie Mayweather   Sunny Mabrey  
Lola Jackson   Nona Gaye  
NSA Agent Meadows   Ramon De Ocampo  
Xiang
xXx 		Donnie Yen  
Serena Unger Deepika Padukone  
Becky Clearidge Nina Dobrev  
Adele Wolff Ruby Rose  
Talon Tony Jaa  
Harvard "Nicks" Zhou Kris Wu  
Tennyson "Torch" Rory McCann  
CIA Director Anderson Al Sapienza  
Gina Roff Ariadna Gutiérrez  
Hawk Michael Bisping  
Ainsley Hermione Corfield  
Red Erik Andrey Ivchenko  
Neymar Jr.
xXx 		Neymar  

Crew

Film Director Writer(s) Producer(s) Cinematographer Music Editor(s)
xXx Rob Cohen Rich Wilkes Neal H. Moritz Dean Semler Randy Edelman Chris Lebenzon
Joel Negron
Paul Rubell
xXx: State of the Union Lee Tamahori Simon Kinberg Neal H. Moritz
Anre Schmidt 		David Tattersall Marco Beltrami Mark Goldblatt
Todd E. Miller
Steven Rosenblum
xXx: Return of Xander Cage D. J. Caruso F. Scott Frazier Joe Roth
Jeff Kirschenbaum
Vin Diesel
Samantha Vincent 		Russell Carpenter Brian Tyler
Robert Lydecker 		Jim Page
Vince Filippone

Reception

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office revenue Box office ranking Budget Reference
North America Other
territories 		Worldwide All time
North America 		All time
worldwide
xXx August 9, 2002 $142,109,382 $135,339,000 $277,448,382 #334 #416 $70 million [6]
xXx: State of the Union April 29, 2005 $26,873,932 $44,148,761 $71,022,693 #2,675 N/A $60 million [7]
xXx: Return of Xander Cage January 20, 2017 $44,898,413 $301,065,438 $345,963,851 #1,750 #322 $85 million [8]
Total $213,881,727 $480,553,199 $694,434,926 $215 million [3]

Critical response

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
xXx 48% (178 reviews)[9] 48 (33 reviews)[10] A−[11]
xXx: State of the Union 16% (135 reviews)[12] 37 (31 reviews)[13] B+[11]
xXx: Return of Xander Cage 43% (112 reviews)[14] 42 (25 reviews)[15] A–[11]

The first film was received by mixed reviews from critics. Roger Ebert called it "as good as a James Bond movie".[16] Adam Smith of Empire Online called the movie, "Sporadically entertaining, but seriously hampered by a very choppy screenplay", and rating it three out of five stars.[17] The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie, but lost to Jackass: The Movie.

The second film in the series was panned by critics, Boo Allen of the Denton Record Chronicle called it "a chubby, surly, incomprehensible action hero".[18] Brian Orndorf of FilmJerk.com compared watching the film to running "headfirst at top speed into a brick wall".[19] David Hiltbrand of the Philadelphia Inquirer said "the plot swings between pathetically implausible and aggressively stupid".[20] Some critics liked the film. Mack Bates of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel praised Ice Cube's "trademark charisma and street sensibility",[21] while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called it "that rare B movie that’s rooted in gut-level stirrings of power and retaliation".[22] Paul Arendt of the BBC said, "Viewed on its own trashy terms, it succeeds brilliantly".[23]

References

  1. ^ "XXX (2002)". British Board of Film Classification. August 9, 2002. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "XXX: State of the Union (2005)". British Board of Film Classification. April 29, 2005. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "xXx Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "'xXx: The Return of Xander Cage' Synopsis Sounds Exciting if You've Never Seen a 'xXx' Movie". February 11, 2016.
  5. ^ Jackson, Helen (January 12, 2017). "Vin Diesel Says Paramount Wants Another 'xXx' Movie". Variety.
  6. ^ "XXX (2002))". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  7. ^ "XXX: State of the Union (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  8. ^ "XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  9. ^ "XXX". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  10. ^ "XXX: reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c "CinemaScore". Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  12. ^ "XXX: State of the Union". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  13. ^ "XXX: State of the Union: Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  14. ^ "xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  15. ^ "XXX: Return of Xander Cage reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  16. ^ "XXX". rogerebert.com. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  17. ^ "XXX (2002) review". empireonline.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  18. ^ ROTTEN TOMATOES: Just what we need, a chubby, surly, incomprehensible action hero Archived December 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Havens, Cassandra. "FilmJerk.com - Reviews - XXX: State of the Union".
  20. ^ http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/philly/movie.html?id=301309&reviewId=17886[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=322097[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Movie Review: XXX: State of the Union". Entertainment Weekly. May 4, 2005.
  23. ^ Paul Arendt (April 28, 2005). "BBC - Movies - review - XXX: The Next Level". BBC.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=XXX_(film_series)&oldid=790288682"