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XXX

It's a Vin Diesel movie -- which, astonishingly enough, is starting to sound like a good thing.

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XXX

''It's a Vin Diesel movie'' is how Vin Diesel describes it. Enough said. But here's a little more anyway: Diesel plays Xander Cage, a.k.a. XXX, a snarling, antisocial extreme-sports enthusiast who's recruited by a supersecret government agency (headed by Jackson) to put his unique athletic abilities to use as a spy. Director Cohen describes exactly what that means: ''He surfs down a stairway using a waiter's tray. He steals a senator's Corvette and drives it off a bridge and surfs on it all the way down. He does stunts on a motocross freestyle bike while being chased by a helicopter with a Vulcan cannon. Basically, we're reinventing the spy movie.''

And, they hope, inventing a franchise that, if all goes according to plan, will turn Diesel into the hottest secret agent since that English dude who's always shaking his martinis. It's an expensive gamble -- Sony is investing upwards of $90 million in the film -- but Diesel and Cohen do have a proven track record. The two teamed up for last year's ''The Fast and the Furious,'' which ended up reinventing the hot-rod movie to the tune of $145 million. Plus, there does seem to be an opening for a new big-screen spy these days.

''Look, James Bond is cool,'' says Diesel. ''He's the father of all movie spies. But James Bond is a leftover from the Clark Gable mentality. James Bond is a guy in a suit, and I don't know a kid today who wears a suit. My character is totally different. He doesn't give a s--- about anything but himself and his thrills. He's a guy who's proficient at what he does because of all the time he spent not doing his homework and instead learning how to do Superman seat grabs on a motocross.''

Posted Apr 19, 2002 | Order Article Reprints