Vin Diesel is ''excited as hell'' about working with director DJ Caruso on 'XXX 3'.

The 48-year-old Hollywood star is preparing to reprise the role of Xander Cage in the action film franchise and is thrilled to announce the appointment of Caruso, who is best known for directing 'Disturbia' and 'Eagle Eye'.

He said: ''I'm excited as hell about XXX. DJ Caruso is directing it, which is exciting.''

Vin said the only question left to answer is which of his two most famous film franchises, 'XXX' and 'Fast and Furious', will make it to production first, with the latter having recently appointed F Gary Gray to helm the next movie in the money-spinning series.

The action star told io9: ''The big question now is which will race to production first now that F Gary Gray is on ['Furious 8']? Will 'XXX' race to production first or will 'Fast' race to production first?''

The original 'XXX' movie opened in 2002 and despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, it performed impressively at the box office, earning $277 million worldwide.

However, the 2005 sequel, titled 'XXX: State of the Union', was considered a critical and commercial failure, making just $71 million in ticket sales.