Former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez will join Vin Diesel in Paramount’s “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage,” TheWrap has learned.
Paramount is teaming on the action-packed sequel with Revolution Studios, Roth Kirschenbaum Films and Diesel’s One Race Films.
D.J. Caruso is directing the new “xXx” from a script by Chad St. John and F. Scott Frazier. Joe Roth will produce with Diesel, among others, while Revolution’s Vince Totino and Scott Hemming will serve as executive producers. Production is currently under way in the Dominican Republic.
After sitting out 2005’s “xXx: State of the Union,” Diesel returns to the franchise to reprise his role as Xander Cage, and this time he’ll be joined by Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose, Hermione Corfield, Bollywood star Deepika Padukone, Chinese superstar Kris Wu, Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez and martial-arts sensations Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa and Conor McGregor.
This time around, Xander Cage will return from a self-imposed exile to recover a devastating weapon known as Pandora’s Box. Paramount will release the third “xXx” movie on Jan. 20, 2017.
Currently a football analyst for CBS Sports, Gonzalez spent 17 years in the NFL, playing for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons. He retired in 2013.
Gonzalez is represented by CAA, manager Constance Schwartz of SMAC and attorney Arash Khalili of Loeb & Loeb. His casting was first reported by Variety.