xXx: State of the Union
Short description
xXx: State of the Union follows a National Security Agency officer, Augustus Gibbons, after he survives an attempt on his life. He suspects that a radical faction operating within the United States government is behind the attack, and he needs an outsider to help him expose it. His choice falls on Darius Stone, a decorated former special forces soldier with a criminal record, who is being held in a military prison. Gibbons arranges for Stone to escape and recruits him into the secret xXx program, setting him against a conspiracy whose influence reaches the upper levels of power in Washington.
The film is a sequel in the xXx series and was directed by Lee Tamahori, released in 2005. It followed a run of studio pictures for him, including Along Came a Spider and Die Another Day, and came about halfway through the features he has directed to date. Simon Kinberg wrote the screenplay, and Neal H. Moritz and Arne Schmidt produced. Ice Cube plays Darius Stone, with Samuel L. Jackson returning as Gibbons, Willem Dafoe as General George Deckert, Scott Speedman as Agent Kyle Steele, Peter Strauss as President James Sandford, and Xzibit as Zeke.
Made for around 60 million dollars, the film took in roughly 71 million dollars worldwide. Audience reception was modest: on IMDb it holds 4.5 out of 10 from about 76,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.1 out of 10 from just over two thousand votes. A critics' rating of 4 out of 10 from 138 reviews places it close to those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Actor Vin Diesel and director Rob Cohen signed contracts to participate in the film two months before the premiere of the first installment. However, due to various circumstances, they were later forced to terminate the contracts.
- Renowned composer Jerry Goldsmith advised director Lee Tamahori to pay attention to the promising Marco Beltrami. However, the Italian composer already had soundtracks to such well-known films as "Terminator 3", "I, Robot", and "Hellboy" under his belt at that time.
- Two scripts were written during the pre-production stage: the first took place in Southeast Asia with pirates, and the second took place in Washington. After heated debate, the second option was chosen. Rob Cohen, while in the director's chair, also struggled for a long time to lean towards either option. Ultimately, he decided that one of them would become the second part, and the losing choice would become the third.
- A real photograph of Ice Cube performing on stage with NWA in the late 80s – early 90s was used in the film as an illustration for his character's file.
- For Ice Cube, this film was the highest-budget project of his entire career.
- At the 3-minute mark of the film, mercenaries jump into newly formed tunnels in the ground without safety harnesses or any securing equipment. When they land in the corridor in the next shot, safety cables are already attached to their backs.
- At the 12th minute of the film, Darius rips out a wire and winds it around the washing machine shaft to pull out the ventilation grille. It can be noticed that in some shots, winding appears on the shaft.
- At the 12th minute of the film, Darius kicks out the fan and grille, climbs out, and scales the building's facade to the roof. In one of the shots as he climbs onto the roof, the previously kicked-out fan and grille are seen back in place.
- At the 15th minute of the film, when Darius opens the door and gets into the car, a member of the film crew can be seen in the reflection on the door.
- At the 20th minute of the film, while Gibbons is working on the plan, a gun lies on the table next to a sheet of paper containing a diagram of the NSA facility. In one of the following shots, as the agent points to locations on the diagram, the handle of the gun is already lying on the sheet itself.
- At the 22nd minute of the film, Darius descends through a hole previously blasted by mercenaries. During the descent, it is clearly visible that the tunnel walls are made of concrete, even though the mercenaries had previously used explosives rather than performing construction work.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
