It looks like Vin Diesel and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage have been dropped once again by Rob Cohen. After he already killed the character once, it seems his chance to make amends with Diesel and resurrect Xander Cage for another outing is over as he turns his attention to another film.

Cohen has been given the chance to direct a much bigger film, and so he's off, leaving the new xXx to fend for itself and either wait for him to return or bring in a new director.

xXx was a lot of fun and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage promised to be just that and perhaps a bit more, especially after the disastrous outing of xXx: The State of the Union with the kiddies star Ice Cube taking over the character and Rob Cohen killing Xander Cage in a DVD extra out of pure vindictiveness.

However Cohen appears to have been given a better offer, so he's leaving the film to join an McG produced film that is apparently being sold as, and let me quote Variety here for the full story...

"The Magnificent Seven in the Middle Ages"

It seems that the story for Medieval will have big action sequences and immerse itself into the middle ages period, bringing together warriors from different cultures. The story is being kept under wraps though, and that's all we know.

The script comes from Alex Litvak and Michael Finch and Cohen is pretty sold on the idea.

"It was a tough decision about XXX...I talked to Vin over the weekend and said I hoped they would wait, but that if they find another director who's right for the sequel, I certainly wouldn't be angry. But I could not let something like this go."

So that's xXx: The Return of Xander Cage out in the cold, but I really don't expect them to wait for Cohen, especially considering the water that's already passed under Vin Diesel's bridge! Nope, I think they'll be looking for a new name to helm the next instalment, and why not?

Let's face it Cohen's track record isn't great, and Vin Diesel's is a bit better, and there's still tons of love out there for the original xXx, perhaps a better director is what it needs and before you know it Diesel's in a trilogy.