"Fast and Furious" star Vin Diesel is making a big comeback to the "xXx" franchise for the third installment of the movie. The actor announced on his Instagram account that "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage" will start filming in Dec. in the Philippines.

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 While I was filming XXX, guys on set called me Air Diesel... The time to return has come. Filming starts December in the Philippines. #ILiveForThisShit

A photo posted by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on Aug 23, 2015 at 1:36pm PDT

In the first movie, Diesel plays the role of Xander Cage, an extreme sports star recruited by Agent Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) of the NSA to go undercover and take down a big time Russian syndicate. The "Riddick" star signed up for the sequel but wasn't able to push through with it due to conflicts in schedule while shooting "The Pacifier."

The second installment, "xXx: State of the Union," was released in 2005 with Ice Cube taking over the lead role. However, the movie flopped earning a mere $71 million worldwide, way below the film's production budget of $131 million.

Diesel's "xXx" earned $277 million globally, surpassing its $70 million production budget. His comeback is expected to bring back the prominence of the franchise.

There's no word yet as to who will be joining Diesel in the movie. Back in 2014, the actor and Katy Perry had an exchange on Twitter saying that the singer would fit the bill as the lead actress. The "Roar" singer said yes and it was believed that an audition was set up for her but it wasn't disclosed if she was offered the role.

It's not yet known if Rob Cohen will direct the third movie but it will sure be good to see him and Diesel reunited after the two worked together on the first "Fast and Furious" film.

TagsVin Diesel, xxx 3, xxx the return of xander cage