Nearly a decade after the release of the latest installment in the franchise, demand for xXx 4 has been high, but will the Vin Diesel franchise ever actually return? Vin Diesel has carried his Fast & Furious franchise to ten movies and counting, and he is also bringing back Riddick for a fourth outing in the near future. That means that the xXx franchise is never really dead in the water, and the chances of Diesel reprising one of his other signature roles is never zero. Unfortunately, there's been little movement on Xander Cage's return.

xXx premiered in 2002 with Vin Diesel in the lead as Xander Cage, an extreme sports enthusiast, and rebellious stuntman who works for the National Security Agency infiltrating a dangerous terrorist organization. The second movie arrived in 2005, but just as Diesel left the Fast & Furious franchise after just one movie, he did the same here, replaced by Ice Cube. Also, just like his other franchise, the movie missed its star and Diesel returned to both franchises, releasing xXx: Return of Xander Cage in 2017. Since that time, there have been rumblings, but xXx 4 still hasn't happened yet.

The Latest xXx 4 News

Ruby Rose Offers A Troubling Update

With more than a year ing since anything regarding the franchise was mentioned, the latest news comes as a troubling xXx 4 update from Ruby Rose. The action star appeared in 2017's Return of Xander Cage as sharpshooter Adele Wolff, but she had little to say about a prospective fourth film. Though she spoke glowingly about working on the Vin Diesel vehicle, she mentioned that "I haven't heard anything," when asked about another film in the franchise.

Read Rose's full comments here:

I haven't heard anything. I haven't heard anything since 1974 (laughs). No, I don't know. I would hope so because I would love to work with that cast and crew again. [They're] incredible people. I think Vin's busy doing lots of Fast and The Furious 312 and I don't know, but that would be, that was another really fun mission movie, I guess might've been my only other real mission movie, but very different tonally than Dirty Angels. Dirty Angels is a much more serious film.

While this doesn't necessarily mean a sequel couldn't happen, a lack of movement after nearly a decade is not a good sign. Hollywood is known for capitalizing on blockbusters, and Return of Xander Cage made a decent chunk of change. If Tinseltown hasn't jumped on the Xander Cage bandwagon yet, they may never bring the series back. On the other hand, there was a 12-year gap between movies 2 and 3, meaning anything is possible.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage grossed nearly $350 million against a reported $80 million budget (via Box Office Mojo)

xXx 4 is Not Confirmed

No Word Yet On Another Xander Cage Adventure

Though there are currently no plans to make xXx 4, there's no reason to think it couldn't happen. In 2018, The H Collective and Vin Diesel’s One Race Films secured the rights to the entire three-movie franchise from Revolution Studios. However, that was delayed when Weying Galaxy filed a lawsuit blocking the production of the movie, claiming that H Collective and Vin Diesel breached a contract with him on the production of xXx 4. That legal drama continued into 2021, and it is unclear where the lawsuit stands several years later.

See how the xXx movies have performed:

xXx 4 Cast Details

Who Could Return To The Action Franchise?

Thanks to the fact that xXx: State of the Union failed to carry on the franchise in 2005, there is no way the xXx 4 cast would exist without Vin Diesel in the lead as Xander Cage. That means the star will be back, or there won't be a fourth movie. Originally, the head of Paramount Pictures wanted Diesel and his entire cast to return for xXx 4 while they were making xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Sadly, that executive, Brad Grey, ed away in 2017 following a battle with cancer.

However, that third movie ended with a huge moment as Ice Cube's Darius Stone showed up near the end of the film to help, saying "they" would come for the fugitives. This made it look like Vin Diesel and Ice Cube would both be in the xXx 4 cast, making it look more like it was building a Fast & Furious-styled world. There was also casting news in 2018 that Jay Chou (The Green Hornet) was ing the cast at the same time as Zoe Zhang signed on. It's unclear if any of that still stands after almost a decade.

xXx 4 Story Details

Ice Cube's Darius Stone showing up at the end of xXx: Return of Xander Cage opened up a new, bigger story for the future and a possible xXx 4. When talking about the release of that movie, director DJ Caruso had a big idea of what his line about "they" would come for the fugitives meant in the larger scale of the movie's world, saying (via Cinema Blend):

Sam [Jackson] talks about how we need someone to watch the watchers… So that’s kind of the idea with the next one. And then, if we can expand on that, what would the world leaders do if they know that these were the people watching the watchers?

From what Caruso said, it seems as if the next installment could pit Xander and his team against corrupt government officials who use their positions of power for bad instead of good. This has global implications, and also ups the stakes, since Xander must now fight enemies abroad and at home. However, until more details about the potential xXx 4 are revealed, it's impossible to say exactly what might happen.