Not Deepika, but Miss Colombia is Vin Diesel's love interest

Ariadna Gutierrez, the first runner-up in the Miss Universe contest last year, has been cast as Vin Diesel's love interest in 'xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.'

Gutierrez, who was Miss Colombia 2014, gained massive international recognition at the Miss Universe pageant when host Steve Harvey announced her as the winner by mistake - it was actually Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, who won.

Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez with Vin Diesel. (Facebook)

The movie, which has been shooting in Toronto and the Dominican Republic, will mark her feature film debut.

Paramount announced last week that it had has set a Jan. 20, 2017, release date.

The film, produced by Revolution Studios, Roth Kirschenbaum Films and Diesel's One Race Film, is directed by D.J. Caruso ('I Am Number Four') from a script by Chad St. John, with current revisions by F. Scott Frazier.

Diesel starred in the original 2002 'XXX,' directed by Rob Cohen, as underground sports star Xander Cage, who was blackmailed by the U.S. government to take down a gang of international terrorists.

The film, released by Sony, performed well with $277 million worldwide.

Diesel was not part of the sequel, with Ice Cube playing the lead role in 2005's 'xXx: State of the Union,' which grossed $71 million worldwide for Sony. Lee Tamahori directed the second film.

The third film follows Diesel's character as he comes out of self-imposed exile to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora's Box.

Indian actress Deepika Padukone will play the female lead opposite Diesel, joining Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev, Donnie Yen and Samuel L. Jackson.

The news was first reported by TMZ.

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