You already have "xXx 2" in the pipeline and even an "xXx 3" and "4". What can we expect of this developing franchise?
What I want is a more anarchistic franchise. I don't want a template that you can predict - so there'll be nobody coming back for "xXx 2" except Vin. It won't be Gibbons [Sam Jackson's character] getting on the phone and saying "We have another mission".
I have two scripts in development right now. One takes place in South-East Asia and involves the Malacca Strait pirates. The other takes place in Washington DC, where our most colourful character will go up against all the grey men. I can already see mountain-biking sequences on the Capitol Dome! In a domestic context, as opposed to an exotic context, Xander [Vin's character] gets to shake up, oh, George Bush and all that he represents.
What I'm trying to do is make a franchise where "xXx" is a state of mind. You're going to know that when you see this movie you'll see Vin, but you'll also see a world. And that world is going to be chaotic and exciting and different. My hope is that each time a "xXx" movie comes out, you'll not know where it's going to go.
How did you persuade the Czech authorities to let you detonate a depth charge metres away from one of the most fragile medieval bridges in Europe?
Prague is one of the most film-friendly cities in the world. The people are still enamoured of filmmaking. It's not like in Hollywood, where people will turn on their lawnmowers just to ruin your soundtrack. In LA, there are people who have actually bought chainsaws just so they can be paid off not to use them while the film is rolling!
If you look at "xXx", you can see that it couldn't have been made without Czech government co-operation. I went to their air force asking for two jets, and they were so excited they offered me the entire air force. Of course the megalomaniac in me said "OK I'll take the whole air force!" All we had to do was make a donation of $50,000 to a hospital for pilots and buy the crew beer after they were back on the ground. As far as the explosions at the Charles Bridge go, I used wrapped black powder bombs under the river, mounted on a grid. They put up enough water so I could then enhance it with CGI particle techniques. So, I didn't use dynamite. We would not in any way endanger the Charles Bridge.
How were you able to realise such fantastical stunts?
We had a lot of the prime extreme sports guys involved in the film. You'll see Tony Hawk, Mat Hoffman, and Rick Thorne. Those were the first people I contacted, because they are the deans of the whole movement. This is actually a movement like the sub-culture in "The Fast and The Furious".
If you watch MTV, then you'll see that every other third commercial involves extreme sports. These guys I mentioned were with us all the time and kept us very honest. And, we allowed them to fulfil some of the things they've wanted to do that were too expensive ordinarily; like a base-jump off a Corvette that's falling off a 300m high bridge.
