xXx Vs James Bond Which Franchise Won The BoxOffice Race In 2002

xXx Vs James Bond: Which Franchise Won The Box-Office Race In 2002?

2002 Vin Diesel vehicle xXx marketed itself as a rival to the James Bond franchise, but how did xXx fare at the box office against Die Another Day?

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Starring a Vin Diesel hot off the heels of the first Fast and Furious, xXx marketed itself as a rival to the James Bond franchise, but how did xXx fare at the box office against Die Another Day? While there’s obviously no ruling out it happening sometime in the distant future, one casting that seems unlikely is an American actor playing James Bond. Bond isn’t always played by a Brit, but he’s been consistently European for his entire big screen existence so far. In fact, it seems more likely that a Jane Bond will happen before an American Bond.

That makes sense, as Bond is a quintessentially British character, but it does preclude American action stars from getting in on the 007 fun. To fill the gap, lots of American action heroes have taken a stab at trying to lead a competitor franchise to Bond, with mostly underwhelming results, outside of a few stellar examples like Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne franchise, and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible movies. For the most part though, Bond sits on a level above its contemporaries.

That didn’t stop Vin Diesel from trying to ride up to Bond and challenge to him to a box office race in 2002, with Diesel’s debut as xXx’s Xander Cage going up against Pierce Brosnan’s last hurrah as 007 in Die Another Day. However, when it comes to money, which is of course the foremost concern of Hollywood studios, James Bond absolutely trounced xXx in 2002. Die Another Day hauled in $431.9 million worldwide, while xXx only earned $277.4 million.

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To be fair, considering that xXx was the first entry in a new franchise, it still did quite well for itself. On the critical side, reviews at the time for both xXx and Die Another Day were decidedly mixed, although Bond’s reviews were a bit more positive leaning. However, hindsight can change how movies are viewed, and that’s been the case here.

Today, xXx is fairly well-regarded overall, even if just as a fast-paced, somewhat mindless action romp. It also led to two sequels, the most recent of which brought Diesel back, and did great at the box office. A xXx 4 with Diesel is also on the way. On the other hand, Die Another Day has come to be considered one of the lower tier entries in the long 007 saga, with many feeling it too over the top and campy for its own good, among other complaints.

Not only was Die Another Day the last movie in which Pierce Brosnan would play Bond, it also led to a reinvention of the franchise, and the effective end of the original James Bond continuity. 2006’s Casino Royale would of course bring in Daniel Craig to play a younger, more impulsive Bond, and make the action much grittier and more realistic, changing the game for the spy action genre altogether.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/xxx-james-bond-box-office-winner-2002/