Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Riddick 3

2/12/10 - Vin Diesel, tough guy Richard B. Riddick, will star in a third film of the Chronicles of Riddick franchise. Diesel will also produce the film, according to Variety.  The film will be written and directed by David Twohy, who wrote and directed the first two films featuring Riddick. While there's no word on what the plot of the new film might be, insiders are saying it will run more along the lines of the cult hit Pitch Black than Chronicles and will focus more on the character of Riddick than his universe. That's good news for sci-fi fans, considering that Chronicles got scathing reviews even though it earned $116 million worldwide and led to a hit vidgame series and the animated video The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury.  Diesel and Samantha Vincent will produce Riddick through their company One Race Films, along with Ted Fields of Radar Films. No word yet on when Riddick will be shot or released.

3/16/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Vin Diesel offered more details and clarified that only part of the film would have a smaller scale, a la the predecessor film Pitch Black. Diesel told a conference call last week that the film would open with Riddick struggling to survive alone against carnivorous monsters.  "There is a scaled-down portion of this that goes back to the Pitch Black style of telling the story," Diesel said.  Diesel added that his plan is still to have four Riddick films in total. The third would only be part two of what he always envisioned as a trilogy to follow Pitch Black.  "Well, you remember when I had talked about Riddick, I talked about Riddick as being the Fellowship in the Tolkien series. So I was using Pitch Black as Hobbit, as the independent story that introduces you to the world of Middle-earth, and then taking The Chronicles of Riddick and treating it as a trilogy that goes from the story that you saw to the Underverse and ultimately to Furya in the third film."

3/12/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Vin Diesel revealed a proposed third film in the Chronicles of Riddick series, which he confirmed is in the works.  David Twohy—who wrote and directed the previous two films, Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick—is currently writing the third installment, Diesel said in a conference call last week to promote his upcoming game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.  "We're going to find Riddick alone for the first part of the movie, barely alive, surrounded by carnivorous monsters who are trying to eat him," Diesel said. "So you'll see a futuristic Rambo-esque Riddick trying to survive."  Diesel added: "David Twohy is scripting the next installment of Riddick as we speak, and it's underway. The story will return to a Pitch Black [sensibility] while servicing the mythology that's been enhanced in Chronicles of Riddick."  It's a bit of surprise to hear that a third installment is in the works, given the critical and box-office drubbing the second film received. But Diesel remains enthusiastic. "It's so cool, this movie, I feel like I'm going to do it a disservice by trying to touch on it, but the answer is yes, we are working very hard on getting this next Riddick installment," he said. "You know how much I love this franchise and how dear it is to me, and you know how committed David Twohy has been to this franchise."

8/26/08 - Actor Vin Diesel told MTV News that he expects there will be not one but two sequels to the Chronicles of Riddick.  "David Twohy right now is writing the scripts," Diesel told the network. "The only question is whether we take a page from the Lord of the Rings guys and try to shoot the two chapters at the same time. There are two more in mind."  The character of Richard Riddick was first introduced in Twohy's low-budget film Pitch Black, which was released in 2000. The Chronicles of Riddick was originally intended as a trilogy that would serve as a big-budget follow-up to that film, but those plans were put on hold in 2004, after the first installment was poorly received by critics and made a mediocre $57 million at the box office.  Diesel continues to insist that the long space between sequels has nothing to do with convincing others to get on board and everything to do with wanting to get it right.

11/26/07 - David Twohy, the director of The Chronicles of Riddick, posted on his official web site that another movie featuring Vin Diesel's iconic character is still possible.  Although there is nothing in development yet, Twohy will need some solid backing before you see this potential film.

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