Vin Diesel’s latest stab at sci-fi greatness is the French actioner “Babylon A.D.”, which is being directed by “Gothika’s” Mathieu Kassovitz. The film has been in production for quite a while, and there were recent rumors that FOX was pressuring Kassovitz to cut out a good portion of the finished film for faster pacing, a charge that the studio has denied, and now seems to have backed away from. Here’s our preview of “Babylon A.D.”, including new movie images that were recently released by FOX.

The plot:

Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to China. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah.

The film will star Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, and Mark Strong. Mathieu Kassovitz directs from the novel by Maurice G. Dantec.

The film is currently scheduled for an August 2008 release, but that date has been changed before, and maybe be changed again.