The Furious 7 star made the announcement via his official Instagram account. "While I was filming XXX, guys on set called me Air Diesel... The time to return has come," he wrote. "Filming starts December in the Philippines."
The original 2002 action film, co-starring Asia Argento and Samuel L. Jackson, grossed $277M at the worldwide box office against a $70M budget. Diesel was signed on to make a sequel, but working on The Pacifier prevented his return. When filming for 2005's xXx: State of the Union began, Ice Cube had replaced Diesel in the lead role, playing Darius Stone. It bombed at the box office, only grossing $71M globally, well below its $131M price tag.
Over a year ago, Diesel teased Katy Perry as a potential new “X girl” for him to co-star with, although the project has had numerous ups and downs from losing director Rob Cohen to potentially seeing Samuel L. Jackson’s NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons returning to the fold. Terminator Salvation scribes Michael Ferris and John Brancato provided the most recent draft of the script, with Furious series mastermind Neal H. Moritz on deck to produce. No director is publicly attached yet, despite the fact that principal photography begins three months from now in December.