xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx (pronounced "triple x"). The film was produced by Revolution Studios for Columbia Pictures.
Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the lead actor and director of the original had signed onto this film before xXx had opened, but both dropped out; Cohen remained an executive producer. Actor/rapper Ice Cube takes over the lead role as the new xXx and Tamahori was brought in to direct following the huge commercial success of the James Bond film Die Another Day which he directed.
Two different scripts were made for this film, and the one written by Simon Kinberg was selected. The other script featured a radically different plot, possibly serving as the basis for another sequel. State of the Union underperformed at the box office, and was criticized heavily by critics (the first installment's reception was mixed) - mainly for the poor performance of its star, illogical story and overuse of CGI-influenced visual effects for most of the action sequences as opposed to live-action stunts being filmed.
