Why Vin Diesel Didn't Return For The First XXX Sequel

While many may know Vin Diesel as the tank top-wearing, Corona-drinking man that's all about family from the "Fast & Furious" franchise, it's easy to forget that Diesel's reach goes well beyond just one franchise. Diesel has appeared in the MCU, led the "Riddick" series, and will even be in James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" later this year. But there's another franchise that starred Diesel that launched around the same time as the "Fast & Furious" franchise.

In 2002, just a year after the inaugural film in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, "The Fast and the Furious, opened in theaters, another action film called "xXx" came out. Diesel once again teamed up with Rob Cohen and Neal H. Moritz, who directed and produced "The Fast and the Furious," respectively, on the film. 

"xXx" would gross $277 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, and spawn two feature-length sequels. But Diesel didn't make his return to the franchise until 2017 in "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" for one specific reason.

Despite "xXx" being a box office hit that would usually suggest a sequel was imminent, Diesel opted to not return for the first sequel as the daredevil Xander Cage. Every franchise carries the risk that one of the main characters may not return, whether it's Robert Duvall in "The Godfather Part III" or Matt Damon in the "Bourne" franchise (though he had a Diesel-like return in 2016's "Jason Bourne"). Even Dwayne Johnson, Diesel's co-star in some of the "Fast & Furious" installments, has openly stated that he would not be returning to the "Fast & Furious" franchise after a falling out with Diesel.

While there are plenty of layers that factor into Johnson's exit of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, Diesel's absence from the sequel to "xXx" is quite simple in comparison. In a 2004 interview with USA Today, Diesel stated: 

"The script wasn't right. They changed writers. It wasn't 'xXx' to me. Two scripts were done, one by Rich Wilkes (who did the original 'xXx') and then another by someone else. I wanted the Wilkes one. That was the one I was excited about."

Sixteen years after the first "xXx" film, Diesel would make his triumphant return to the series, breathing life into the franchise after the sequel that didn't feature him, "XXX: State of the Union," grossed only $71 million worldwide. It was disappointing, to say the least. The third installment in the series, "xXx: Return of Xander Cage," was a hit and was not only a return for the titular character, but it also served as a return to box office success for the franchise as the third installment grossed $346 million worldwide — a franchise-best — according to Box Office Mojo.

This rejuvenation resulted in interest in more installments in the franchise from Paramount as Variety's report indicated. At the London premiere of "Return of Xander Cage," Diesel said that he was approached by Brad Grey, who runs Paramount, and was asked to return to the set that next May. Despite the interest, the film has had few murmurs about the progress of the film as of 2022 and is still without an official release date.

It's fun to play hypotheticals and wonder what could have been had Diesel stuck it out with the "xXx" franchise. After all, the first "xXx" film grossed more than "The Fast and the Furious" ($207 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo) did a year prior, so the futures of both franchises could have looked very different. We'll never know if there would have been 10 films in the main "Fast & Furious" saga and a spin-off starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Vanessa Kirby if Diesel had continued on with the "xXx" series in the early 2000s.

But as fate (of the furious) would have it, Diesel would proceed to star in eight more "Fast & Furious" installments with a 10th installment, "Fast X," set to release next summer and the franchise would go on to gross over $6 billion worldwide to date, according to Box Office Mojo. Meanwhile, the fourth installment in the "xXx" franchise has had little to no traction since the initial Variety report that Paramount was interested in a sequel.