Vin Diesel Will Press On With 'Riddick' Sequels
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Scripts, Newsstand
Fans of the Riddick franchise -- all six of us -- thought for sure that, despite occasional rumblings to the contrary, the series was dead. The expansive, expensive Chronicles of Riddick was trashed upon release, after all, and flopped at the box office (at least domestically). Another sequel seemed foolhardy, sure to be met with gales of laughter from the same peanut gallery that so readily dismissed Chronicles.I still think that's probably true, but I won't tell Vin Diesel, who is determined to make two more sequels happen. In an interview with MTV, he said that writer-director David Twohy is currently working on the scripts, and that the "only question" is whether they will be shot together, LoTR-style, or as two separate productions. Why did it take so long? No money problems, Diesel insists -- they just want to get it right. This was, after all, envisioned as a trilogy, with Pitch Black acting as a stand-alone companion film.
I've wasted a lot of breath defending The Chronicles of Riddick to naysayers, and have pretty much accepted that the film will never meet with much popularity. (My hopes that it would become a cult hit on DVD despite its initial chilly reception have been cruelly dashed, though the spin-off video game proved popular.) I continue to think that it's an ambitious, genuinely interesting piece of science-fiction and world-building. So I'll gladly get excited for sequels from the same creative team, even as I harbor doubts that they'll actually get made.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-27-2008 @ 2:10AM
pete thomson said...
The Ridicules Of Chronic! as is was known was rubbish. A huge letdown after the originality and tense plotting of Pitch Black. Poor old Vin D! He just cant find a niche. Its not Riddick though so he should move on!
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8-26-2008 @ 6:05PM
Rufus said...
Wha? It wasn't popular... no!
I am a great fan of the Riddick universe. I loved Pitch Black and when they expanded with Chronicles... well, I nearly wet myself. The animated short, Dark Fury set between the two was also a great expansion for the series.
I hoped they would somehow make more of the same happen, and you know, a smaller budget might just make it grittier. Pitch Black had a lower budget than Chronicles, and it was excellent.
Count me among those six who want to see more of what happens to Riddick and the Underverse.
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8-26-2008 @ 6:24PM
Batzarro said...
Chronicles was good. It had that whole "Roman Empire in space" thing going on, as well as the always cool self fullfilling prophesy. I really do hope more Ridick is on the way.
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8-26-2008 @ 7:03PM
Niko said...
What the hell happened to "Assault on Dark Athena"? I'd rather play a game based on the character, than watch a movie based on the character.
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8-27-2008 @ 8:45AM
Nicko said...
I believe the game's developer is shopping for a publisher after the last one recently dropped it (along with a few other titles). "Escape From Butcher Bay" was the best Riddick story in any medium, whether you're a gamer or not IMO.
8-27-2008 @ 1:59AM
Zoo said...
Chronicles made me wonder how many times a guy can rip his goggles off by placing his hand over his head and grabbing from the other side. It seriously got annoying.
I loved Vin Diesel in Pitch Black - but then they gave whole paragraphs of lines. yeesh.
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8-26-2008 @ 7:18PM
Master X said...
I love the Riddick movies. I had them on DVD and now I have them on HD DVD. I will buy the new ones on Blu ray.
Assault on Dark Athena for 360 and PS3 is still coming out, it just got delayed. Its a remake of Escape from Butcher Bay that was on the Xbox but its 30% bigger than the first one and has online play.
I look forward to anything Riddick.
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8-26-2008 @ 7:18PM
rich said...
Chronicles was fun space opera. But few people like space opera these days . . ..
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8-26-2008 @ 7:39PM
madgamer said...
I liked chronicles and would gladly see more.
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8-26-2008 @ 10:38PM
Emma said...
Unless you somehow already counted me, make that **7** people who liked Riddick.
Yeah, Pitch Black is a better movie, and Riddick is a long way from perfect - but it was good with the potential to be great.
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8-27-2008 @ 6:04AM
Moe said...
All 8 of us now. Count me in. Riddick might not have been great filmmaking but it was wildly entertaining. And that already beats most of the boring, derivative crap out there.
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8-27-2008 @ 6:13AM
Ronan said...
Pitch Black was a very good SF movie.
Chronicles was a good space opera, but I was expecting SF and it was not good SF.
Maybe it would have had more success if it was not linked with PB at all.
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8-27-2008 @ 7:56AM
filmsuki said...
Chronicles could have been better if they kept the enemies as mysterious and sinister, instead of political and, well, human. But it deserved better than it got. Then again, I though Judge Dredd was awesome too. :) "I AM DAH LAUW!!"
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8-27-2008 @ 8:48AM
bongo123 said...
count me a fan of everything riddick is in, coolest anti-hero there is
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8-27-2008 @ 11:13AM
Astin said...
Pitch Black was a good movie, and was much better than it had any right to be. Chronicles though... so much promise, but it was scattershot. The plot was one we'd seen before, but continues to work if done right.
It wasn't.
The acting was subpar, especially when you've got talent like Colm Feore and Dame Judi Dench. The story was hard to follow and rushed. The names were childish... Furions? Underverse? The ending was... disappointing. It felt like they tried to cram the whole trilogy into one movie.
The political aspects were sophmoric at best. Look at BSG or even SG-1 for how political infighting can be written better. Hell, even the political aspects of The Phantom Menace were better written.
Yes, it was a broad concept, with some great moments, but as a whole it needed a much better editor.
Yet I still watch it regularly. Mostly because Riddick is a great character, and the moments that DO work, work very well.
I'd welcome the other two, I just hope somebody reigns them in a bit.
And yes - Escape from Butcher Bay was the best Riddick story of them all.
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8-27-2008 @ 11:32AM
Joe said...
I was actually watching Chronicles on TNT the other night - I hadn't seen it since the original DVD release.
I wasn't a fan then, and I'm still not, despite my effort to like Chronicles. The entire film just felt like the filmmakers were trying too hard - everything about it felt forced and cheesy. Pitch Black was fun because of the restraint in direction - Chronicles felt over-the-top for the sake of being over-the-top.
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8-28-2008 @ 5:49PM
Bob said...
Agree with Astin wholeheartedly. The beginning was good, running from the Mercs, and outrunning the sun on the prison planet - should of been more like those two examples. Lean and mean, just like the first one. I dare anyone to explain the "Elementals" to me. Sheesh!!
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8-28-2008 @ 6:35PM
andy said...
well it it hit the cinema i know a lot of people that will would watch it.
me too for that matter. some times a story need to be told and some times that story is not under stode , but some time it not about if it popular or not, it's the story. i cant wait to see the end of that story.
all that left is will it be a matice promicign much but not deovering or will it delver what we all know it should.
it al ldepends on how main stream they aim it.
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8-29-2008 @ 1:21AM
Glen said...
RIDDICK was ahead of its time.
Critics have historically given thumbs down to scifi, because it takes a higher level of intelligence to comprehend it. (no offense meant) If the movie doesn't fly, please get a ghost writer to publish a saga book - I'd pay anything to give this plot proper closure!
Cheers!
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8-29-2008 @ 8:39AM
Mike said...
I loved Pitch Black, Dark Fury and Chronicles. I hope he keeps pushing for it. I know Vin is a big sci-fi fan and I'm still surprised he actually wrote a Dungeons and Dragon's module that went to print.
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