Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. Vin Diesel has shared the very first set photos from xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, reprising his role as the titular cocksure agent just as production gets underway.
Acting as the culmination of a casting spree, the first image arrives by way of Diesel himself, showcasing the actor revving the engine of a stunt bike against a humungous green screen, bikini-clad woman in tow. Straddling the bike’s handlebars in a way that is decidedly not safe for life – let alone safe for work – it’s clear that D.J. Caruso’s actioner has hit the ground running.
[zergpaid]Speaking of which, the director also posted a second image, documenting the formative days of The Return of Xander Cage. It’s designed more to showcase life on set between those riotous stunts, with Diesel, Caurso and a handful of producers featuring in the shot.
As for the other side of the lens, Xander Cage will be flanked by a burgeoning ensemble of A-listers, with Toni Collette recently joining the threequel as a high-ranking bureaucrat. In weeks prior, Indian star Deepika Padukone, Tony Jaa and Irish UFC champ Conor McGregor laid the groundwork, before Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose, Jet Li, and Andrey Ivchenko capped off an impressive cast as the film’s chief antagonist.
Shooting for a 2017 release, the wheels are now in motion – and soaring through the air – on the set of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. Given Diesel’s tendency to promote his films via Facebook, expect today’s images to be the first of many.