xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage casts Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutiérrez

You may be aware of the recent snafu at the Miss Universe contest{ =nofollow}, where Miss Colombia was initially announced the winner. That was then discovered to be a mistake, and the trophy was taken from her, on stage, and given to Miss Phillippines instead. That humiliated ultimate runner-up was Ariadna Gutiérrez, and she can now console herself somewhat, having won a role in xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage.

Reports say she'll be a love interest for Vin Diesel, although it's doubtful she's the female lead.

D.J. Caruso is directing the new outing for the franchise, and Diesel stars alongside an eclectic, diverse cast that includes Deepika Padukone, Tony Jaa, Donnie Yen, Ruby Rose, Conor McGregor, Nina Dobrev, Kris Wu, Hermione Corfield, Toni Collette and Samuel L. Jackson, who returns to his role as Agent Augustus Gibbons. There have been persistent rumours that Ice Cube might also show up to reprise his role as xXx: State Of The Union's Darius Cole, but nothing is confirmed about that yet.

The plot involves Diesel's extreme-sports super-spy and a new team of reprobates going up against Yen's band of bad guys, in a race to get to a top secret weapon called Pandora's Box.

Shooting in underway as we speak, and xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage is currently pencilled in for release next January.