XXX: State of the Union Release Date: April 29, 2005 Starring: Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson, Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Nona Gaye Directed by: Lee Tamahori
"There's no doubt that the first movie was successful with Vin Diesel in it because of his appeal as a high-octane, petrol-head type of guy," says director Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day), who has taken over the franchise from Rob Cohen. "I said, 'I cannot guarantee you that this will be successful without having Vin in it.' " Revolution and Sony took the $115 million gamble nonetheless, casting Ice Cube as the new star. Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as NSA agent Augustus Gibbons, who breaks a Black Ops veteran (Cube) out of military prison to stop a coup d'etat by the U.S. Secretary of Defense (Willem Dafoe). Although there's plenty of action—including a train explosion and a 700-foot high-dive—both Tamahori and Cube hope to emphasize the plot's thriller aspects. "The first movie to me was: lotta good action, story okay, cast okay," Cube says. "So we tried to up the ante when it came to story and not make a dumb action movie."
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