David Twohy -- who wrote and directed the first two films in the series, "Pitch Black" and "The Chronicles of Riddick" -- will helm from a screenplay he penned. Plot details are being kept under wraps. But insiders say the third outing will hew closer in tone to the cult hit "Pitch Black" and will focus on the character of Riddick as opposed to the universe he inhabits, which was the case with the critically panned "Chronicles of Riddick."...says Variety HERE. Universal's now trying to work schedules to accommodate Vin staring in this and FAST FIVE. I love the richness of this franchise's universe (as imperfect as CHRONICLES was) and I'm totally up for seeing more of it. Even if...or especially if...the next film's approach is far more character driven. In a recent update on his Facebook page (HERE), Diesel indicated that Egypt was a probable shooting location of at least part of the new film - along with New Zealand.
On second thought I should have just stuck with that accidental blank post.
Riddick coming to grips with what it means to be a warrior/thief turned king ala Conan?
Riddickulous.
Fuck all y'all who think otherwise.
When Pitch Black came out a decade ago, he seemed to be all set for being the next Arnie. And considering Spielberg only gave him his big break in Saving Private Ryan after seeing the movies he wrote and directed himself, he's not a stupid guy. Where did he go wrong? It seems as if he's spent the last decade just milking two franchises dry. That's not gonna work forever...
WHY does he keep making shit movies? Pitch Black rocked, but no2 was like watching Starlight Express when I expected Alien? WTF?
Are they fucking kidding? Pitch Black was okay, but Chronicles was way better. Who gives a fuck what 'critics' pan? Surely you can have some sort of perspective on a movie a few years afterwards?
...which makes me slightly unhappy about this. She loooves the movies and forced me to watch them on what coincidentally ended up being our last date.
Me, bitter? Nooo...
Sounds like he's more like the next Stallone. Milking two franchises? Check. Slightly unintelligle, slurred speech pattern? Check.
February 12, 2010 12:20 PM CST
by TresEquis
This is like saying the prom committee is trying to work schedules to accommodate the fattest chicks in class.
Rocky Balboa, Rambo, Fast and Furious. Just seems like lazy creativity to me.
February 12, 2010 12:27 PM CST
by rev_skarekroe
I think expanding the Riddick universe from just being an Aliens knockoff was a great idea. And I liked the Dune-esque universe they all lived in, too. Guess it's just me.
anyone?........ anyone???
Pitch Black's great monster-movie motif and less like Chronicles' insipid Dune/Conan/Star Wars mash-up. Although, I guess it has to be better than Below. Talk about a good-looking movie with no substance whatever!
Mainstream audiences don't give a shit. Riddick is not Bond or Indy or Bourne, he's a character who most people haven't even heard of.
No wonder Universal is in the crapper when they greenlight a sequel virtually nobody wants to see.
Riddick is an anti-hero. He only worked in the first movie because he was a "problem" for the hero(s). If you make him the main player (as in Chronicles) you have to make him sympathetic in some way. Then you end up with the whole Hannibal problem. If you like the character too much, then they aren't bad ass enough. If Riddick isn't bad ass, then why watch him? Hard to thorw a rape scene involving the hero into the movie, and have you still route for the guy.
February 12, 2010 12:41 PM CST
by BiggusDickus
That is all.
will be made, and 2 films no less. They need to be as faithful as possible to the book, including the Jacob pedophile subplot. It's going to be epically awful.
Count me in as one of the apparently few who think the last Riddick movie is underrated. Pitch Black was good but could have easily just been an Aliens sequel, I felt like Chronicles did some nice world building and had some kick ass special effects and scenery.
I wonder if karl urban will return, and I just looked up riddick, I didn't know linus roache aka thomas wayne was in it, I gotta rewatch it later.
February 12, 2010 12:56 PM CST
by blakindigo
—ambitious. It has some serious flaws, but I honestly don't get the hate. The film isn't trying to be "Children of Men", it's a pretty, straight-laced action/SF movie without pretending to be anything else. It looks like a SF action movie and I think its better on second viewing. I just wish Keith David could be in the 3rd one…
I know what you mean about having a movie (whether it was good or bad) being a lasting reminder of the "last date" with your woman. I very much enjoyed "The Book of Eli," which also turned out to be the last movie I saw just before my girlfriend broke up with me three days later. Fuckin' Denzel. Fuckin' Vin. :)
Please make it stop.
love these Riddick movies, it's like a throwback to those early 80's low budget sci-fi films
Ok, not quite, just being dramatic.
HOWEVER, it was a DAMN cool movie. Yes it had some flaws, which were at least somewhat addressed in the Director's Cut. I think part of teh problem was the Necromongers. First off, that's a dumbassed name. Secondly their armor looks a little like a GWAR costume or something, especially that ginormous helmet the main bad guy had.
Also being the first part in a trilogy gave it thematic and narrative problems.
And the whole "outrunning the sun" deal, although handled about as well as it could be, is a little silly.
But overall I fucking love that movie! Vin Diesel was born for the role of Riddick and I can't wait to see him play it again.
Also, if you haven't played the Riddick games, nobody likes you.
Although I liked Chronicles more. If anyone hasn't seen Twohy's A Perfect Getaway I suggest you give it a look. Good film.
I too enjoyed Chronicles. I don't understand why they would want to shy away from that. As a whole I think the franchise has done very well.
Love how Chronicles managed to keep him as a reluctant hero. Every decision he makes is for himself and only helps others incidently. Also the ending was just perfect. Big fan of Riddick so glad we are gettin more.
I enjoyed Chronicles more. It's the universe itself that is fascinating. I hope they try to get Thandie Newton back.
February 12, 2010 1:35 PM CST
by googamooga
Then it might be cool. To make a sequel that disregards everything in Chronicles would just be stupid. I am also one that loved Chronicles and really wanted to see where they would take the story now that Riddick was the leader of the Necromongers.
Just what the world has been braying an screaming for. How about some of them 'Necromonger" thingies, they were so sooooooooo dope! Except that they were shit.
Because this is going to Flop. Who is seriously hanging out for a Riddick film?
Far as I'm concerned, Riddick is one of the coolest characters of our generation. He's right up there with Snake Pliskin man, he's a GREAT character and definitely the best thing Vin has ever done. Oh yeah, and the game kicked ass too.
simply called "Tank" where Vic Morror tanks down a fully-loaded Panzer with his Thompson and Colt .45 ACP. Very few actors, high tension all the way. Just put it in Riddick's universe.
Necromongers?! Surely we can do better than that crap this time.
Someone call David Twohy…
If it's tight like Pitch Black, with decent villains this time (not mopey space goths), I'll definitely be interested.
I actually liked Chronicles, but the names of the planets and factions were pretty bad. "Necromungers", "Crematorium". Yuck.
The only role that ever made me not like Colm Feore was in Riddick. Pitch Black was cool because the universe seemed like ours- transports in place of airplanes, a hybrid Christian-Muslim religion, etc. Chronicles of Riddick ran off the rails trying to be fantastic, which is the opposite of what made PB cool.
I actually liked Perfect Getaway a lot more than Riddick.
How are they going to make that close and personal? Oh shit my bad, spoiler alert. Your own fault for not seeing a six year old movie though.
They sold Pitch Black as "What if Hannibal Lecter was your only hope of getting saved on an Alien planet?", but the problem is that Riddick was never that heartless a bastard-- he was about as bad as Clint Eastwood in a Leone picture, and let's remember, it was Eastwood was (relatively) the Good, not the Bad or the Ugly. So the movie kept trying to convince us that something new and unusual was happening when Riddick "fought evil with evil" but he was merely antisocial in the most standard way. Connery in the early Bonds has more of a sadistic side than Riddick ever did.
was they took a bad ass character with incredible survival skills in pitch black and basically turned him into a full on super being with no evolution in between.
chronicles being better than pitch black. i liked them both, and im sure ill see #3, but i wish they were going the chronicles route.
just kill people in a cold blooded manner and be a heartless prick all of the time. Anti hero this to the max!
Pitch Black worked in the same vein as Alien, a realistic, grimy take on a dystopian future and space travel. Chronicles felt like a forced attempt to turn the world from Pitch Black, into some sort-of "Conan in Space/Dune/Star Wars" weird hybrid-thing, and the result was just awful. I was disappointed the original script featuring Riddick on a living planet with tiger/tree sentinels was discarded; I'd have liked to have seen a series with Riddick making his way through the galaxy, fighting off alien beasties even more monstrous than he! Here's hoping that's what Twohy has in mind for Part 3.
PS - Karl Urban kind-of sucks in everything except LotR, where he played a totally expendable character anyway.
WHO sold Pitch Black as "What if Hannibal Lecter was your only hope of getting saved on an Alien planet?"
Riddick was a true anti-hero from the get-go. He was never designed to be a true "villain" at all.
...not been named "Chronicles". Honestly. I know that's probably the least of anyone's reasons for not liking the film (which I did like, mostly). It just bugged me. Maybe it's bad associations with Narnia - maybe it's the feeling that the film and it's mythology was, by declaring itself the Chronicles of something, was announcing it would be willfully and cheerily crawling up its own ass. "Riddick" - Riddick I can get behind. Simple, to the point, no pomp around it. But fuck Chronicles.
Some hero.
Was a reluctant hero, but a hero nonetheless. He clearly wasn't the villain, regardless of what people said. But they definitely need to work on the anti-hero aspect. Wish I'd talked Riddick to Vin the one time we worked together. Damn.
instead of just another jerkoff of previously done material. I kinda liked Chronicles, as I've said a few times in TB before, and I'll probably see this.
I liked both Riddick movies.
And slightly higher voice. I'm used to him being on law & order and batman begins, where he plays sophisticated characters. Didn't recognize him as the other Furyan in chronicles.
David Twohy scripted both Riddick films, but Pitch Black was a rewrite. Jim & Ken Wheat wrote the story and the original screenplay, before Twohy got involved and did the rewrite. So maybe that's why Pitch Black was good and Chronicles stank: because the sequel was all Twohy's own idea. Perhaps Twohy should give a bit more credit to the Wheats for coming up with the original idea that kicked all this off.
Has everyone lost their fucking mind?
I'll see it. It's pretty original compared to what we get a lot of times. Now give us that Serenity sequel....
...I didn't hate Riddick. It certainly had good intentions. It tried hard to be more than just cookie cutter sci-fi action product and I wish there was a lot more of that.
It just didn't quite work. I'm glad they're getting another chance.
Why all of the hate? Thought it was decent enough.
I genuinely don't get why others don't.
February 12, 2010 7:36 PM CST
by SmokieGeezer32_PSN
2 still wrankles as being WTF? 3 Rescued some dignity but not much. As for 4and5? Not a fan. First Highlander still rocks.
I loved to see Riddicks universe and all the action,monsters and shit,Pitch Black was just in one planet.I mean imagine some bad ass sci fi flick like the games,Im supporting this!!!
from the second movie. CoR was under appreciated and had a great ending. It'd be a shame if they dumped that.
February 12, 2010 8:34 PM CST
by LaserPants
So gay.
fuck personal
I thought it was pretty damn good in the theatre. But I really enjoyed that movie the second time on DVD. It's the best Conan movie since Conan the Barbarian.
Anybody play that shit around this time last year? I really enjoyed that game. The type you play through, complete, and never fucking play again. But it was damn fun to play... tight controls, visceral action, AAA presentation. And it was really immersive, the game mostly taking place in a single setting that was fully thought out and detailed.
I really liked Dead Space from last year for similiar reasons.
I say we just make them for good movies...I think that'd be smarter, IMO.
I'm happy to see more. Would like to see Riddick in prison for the whole movie though.
He also saved the other guy.
February 12, 2010 10:05 PM CST
by BEYONDTHUNDERDOME2GIRLS1CUPBILLCOSBY
So maybe the critics were shorthanded. But the real reason that critics panned it is because most critics are fags and their reasons for liking and disliking movies are totally different than my reasons.
If you do you will not be re-admitted onto AICN...
so that my girlfriend doesn't see all the...adult sites I've been browsing on without logging off?!?!
It's like a quagmire of quandaries!!!
Maybe not so much if I'd paid to see it in a theatre. But I liked it on HBO on a Sunday afternoon. But that's how I see everything since movies hit $10 here.
That's why they came up with InPrivate browsing sessions in the latest IE for Windows 7.
but you won't tempt me away from Firefox. Being able to block AICN and IMDB's annoying popup ads with crazy techno music is still too handy.
...it's a great move IMHO.
But I'm so goddamn sick of these articles. Give us tidbits on new plot, pictures, concept art, something, but stop just telling us this same shit about making another Riddick film. I've known they were going to for more than TWO FUCKING YEARS. Good lord, people!
February 13, 2010 3:07 AM CST
by tomimt
They still shouldn't carbon coby it. Pitch was a nice, yet unsurprising piece of formulaic sci-fi horror, that wasn't very terrifying. chronicles was like a poorly written RPG session. Maybe if they could find a balanced middle ground it could work, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular here.
I liked CoR. And there's plenty of narratives left to explore in this universe. I think it'd be great if Riddick "descends" into the Underverse to retrieve Kyra - like Orpheus descended into the Underworld to retrieve Eurydice.
Will be nice to have this world back up on the big screen.
I look forward to a new Riddick, both movies were good for different reasons.
I enjoyed both PB and COR a lot and if it shoots in NZ hopefully some work will come my way.
Pitch Black seemed like a few hundred years later, but Our Future. Chronicles went crazy with fantasy concepts with terrible names. Also: Riddic isn't such a bad guy.Everybody talks about him like a monster, but I don't think we ever saw him kill, or at least really hurt an innocent. (Maybe the cop in Pitch Black, but he was ready to sacrifice a little girl.)
make it dark and violent. has to be R. and needs to keep the fast action cuts from TCOR.
screw the junk conan reboot coming down the pipe. twohy's alpha warrior is the true badass to spend your cash on.
That's much of what Chronicles suffers from...a combination of trendy fanboy hype hate and the over-exposure of Vin Diesel at the time the film came out. Chronicles isn't the "epic fail' most say it is...it looked interesting and had something of a compelling narrative (marred by significant flaws...I do agree) but it isn't "horrible". It was just inferior to Pitch Black..and that hurt it big time.
Was a botched movie with alot of unanswered questions and story holes. BUT I STILL WOULD WATCH THAT ANYDAY OVER ANOTHER SAW MOVIE!!! I like Riddick. DO it up!
...since I've smelled beautiful." Please, let's have more wonderful dialogue like that.
In this hard-hitting action drama, Vince Vaughn and Vin Diesel join forces and kill their respective agents.
...cause the latter sucked royal monkey dick.
Good: All the bits with the bounty hunters and the prison planet parts. Bad: Anything relating to the Necromongers (So about 60% of the movie) and most of the sets. I've seen better costumes and sets in B movies from the 80's. Had some great action and characters, but went completely in the wrong direction... IMHO.
ya, I said it. Well, I think ideally the 3rd film should be a mix of the 2 styles.
The theatrical cut was severely lacking (except for the sweet "back of the bus" line) and reduced the awesome hangar fight to a confusing, zoomed-in-shaky-cam sequence to get a PG-13 rating, as well as cut out the more mythological elements that not only shape Riddick's character, but explains a key character plotpoint. The Director's Cut fixed all that and it's quite a bit better and more epic.
This'll probably get the same amount of press release as Darkman 2 and 3.
"CHRONICLES" sucked
Pitch Black: $53M Worldwide ... CoR: $115M Worldside. hrrmmmm ... yep, I can see Universal giving a rat's ass what "The Sandy Vagina Crew" on poopshoot[dot]com think.
The Comedian seems to be pretty damned popular. Yeah, maybe he didn't COMPLETE the act, but, dammit, he DID shoot JFK!
...listening to the fans on greenlighting the "Riddick" sequel(s). "Pitch Black" was a fantastic film, the only thing that it is truly missing is a Special Edition, ala the Star Wars: Special Editions, that will serve to amp-up the effects, sets, and backgrounds of the existing film--something that would increase media and public interests in an otherwise solid, but under appreciated movie (treasure), and thus, increase interest in building a Riddick film franchise, overall, worldwide.
"Chronicles Of Riddick" never really stayed within the framework of the original film, a film that felt like it took place in a "speculative science" future, rather than a "science fiction" or "fantasy" future...ala Riddick, which gave us the trappings of a fantasy/science fiction world, but seemed to have a split personality--alas, it was unwilling to commit itself either way??? Riddick was full of fat, and possessed no guts to give us the anti-hero that is Riddick--a character who is a villain in mind, but a hero at heart; one who believes that there is such a thing as a intolerable evil, which even he will fight against to protect the innocent, if forced. He is essentially "Scarface"--an uncommon thug, but one who has an ethical line that he just won't cross--and that is what Chronicles Of Riddick forgot to give us???
Just about the only good scene in the film was its ironic "Conan: The Barbarian" like ending...which was brilliant. Sadly, however, the entire film was not made-out of similar moments. The next film in the series, whatever it will be, is in desperate need of a Hard R rating. I recall, Twohy mentioning an oral sex scene, in Chronicles, between Karl Urban and Thandie Newton's characters that was to take place upon the Lord Marshal's throne, a scene that was cut from the final script to make the film a PG-13, or such? That was a mistake, as the film was missing adult nuances that would have raised its tone. We would have had something akin to TV's "Rome" or "Spartacus", instead...we largely received a slow moving uneventful science fiction film, and aside from the prison planet scene, and the lead villian's supernatural powers, the special effects were not well executed, leaving me puzzled---especially considering the huge budget of the film???
I hope the sequels are fast moving and really give us a sense of what the world might really feel like in the future, ala "Blade Runner" or "Alien"/"Aliens".
Lastly, in terms of special effects, I hope that you hire a company like Zoic ("Firefly", "Serenity", "The New Battlestar Galactica", "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer"). They really produce some amazing effects shots worthy of the best blockbuster productions out there, but on a much lower budget than most of the top effects houses. Thanks for listening!!! Sincerely--MM
Riddick is awesome
You can watch Stargate Universe if you cant wait for the next Riddick movie! and if you hate both, then just ask your mom to stop breast-feeding you, coz it seems her milk finally started affecting your brain.
I respect everybody having different opinions, and if you thought Chronicles sucked, then fine. But us science fiction fans have been begging for good Hollywood sci-fi, since the only good stuff we get now is on cable and limited by lower budgets, but when we get a decently creative and original hard sci fi flick, most people on here poo poo it and call it unnecessary. Well, even if you hated Chronicles, you should be rooting for this movie to succeed, cause otherwise Hollywood is going to continue to put out mostly cookie cutter shit based on video games and our lame childhood nostalgia. (BTW, the only problem with Chronicles IMO is that they tied it into Pitch, cause with a few script adjustments, it very easily could have been a stand alone film, and the idea that we were supposed to associate the hero Riddick in Chronicles with the anti-hero in Pitch, was perhaps worst idea ever, so I just watch them like stand alone films and will do the same for the third installment.)
Make it so, bitches!
Loved it, don't understand all the hate, the animated Dark Fury was bad-ass as well.
No. Sorry, but even the director's cut was a sloppy mess. Thandie Newton was just fucking awful in that movie. Every line out of her mouth was auditory excrement. Pile a bunch of actioneer slop onto a story that could've been decent if it had actually been well executed, useless characters that do nothing (the calculator chick...what purpose did she serve again?), contrivances (Riddick's girl somehow remains intact through the Necromonger assimilation...and no one else did? Really?), fantastical crap...ugh. Sorry, but that movie was a mess.
I loved Pitch Black, and liked Chronicles. It IS possible to enjoy both, though their scope differs dramatically. I think Chronicles tried to accomplish too much, really... you take a character with only minor development (Riddick) and thrust them into an overbearing conflict (Necromongers) and throw in a cadre of supporting cast members to help tell the story/fill the void, and yes, you get a soupy result. It wasn't terrible, but it was probably 'too soon' for the Riddick character, and seems more like material better placed at the end of a trilogy rather than something squeezed into the middle.
Why do you keep saying "sorry" in your post? As if you had anything at all to do with either movie? Also, "Every line out of her mouth was auditory excrement." You know this wasn't supposed to be Mamet, right? Drama queen.
Lets hope the new movie is closer to the original one.
February 14, 2010 3:19 PM CST
by Ben_Richards_Bomb_Collar
Man Butcher Bay is a great game.
great news. but as someone else said, this needs more Toombs. he easily stole 'chronicles'. i would have loved for it to just be basically 'riddick vs. everyone' with all these mercs trying to capture him. in fact, the most exciting part of that movie was that section and crematorium. same as in 'pitch black' where i really enjoyed his dialogue with cole hauser a lot more than the alien stalking.
so yeah, if they can somehow write into the script that once he assumed power, he freed all the necromongers and they went on in their merry way, and riddick went back to being the most wanted fugitive in the galaxy... i'm game!
oh who am i kidding, i'll watch this regardless...
Riddick should escape the Necromongers, who go on a hunt for him, where he, using misdirection, leads them to the planet of the flying hammerhead creatures, who take the Necromongers out.
where the video game was better than the movie.
February 14, 2010 4:37 PM CST
by losder
Therebye committing galactic genocide on a big stupid death cult and justifying his gravelly badassness.
never will be in a "hard sci-fi" movie. Period. Pitch Black and Chronicles were action-sci-fi, which is fine. But I'd reserve the "hard" label for films like 2001, Primer, Solaris, Moon (the more intellectual side of sci-fi).
There is a long debated and generally agreed upon consensus of the difference between "sci-fi" and "science fiction." The movies you cited are examples of the latter.
...refers to the difference between original sci-fi and genre sci-fi, which would include the multitudes of Star Trek/Wars spin-off medias that are available. It's all just semantics...I think my original point still holds.
Like sci-fi was just a shorter version?
that audiences need to support quality science fiction films or we absolutely WILL keep getting the same tired crap. Loved it when Sunshine came out (minus the third act) and Moon. And it's not about the budget (although it certainly gives a director some flexibility).
Well, I guess it depends who you ask, but back in the day, many science fiction writers resented the shortened term "sci fi" because it was used to refer to everything from fantasy novels to comic books. Sci-Fi, though an abbreviation of "Science fiction", generally refers to the pulp stuff.
was referring to the previous post, but I love all the movies you mentined and just generally want to support the success of the genre overall so we don't get a Notebook part 2 or whatever other lameness hollywood has on the drawing board.
I'm always saying they need to make more films about a Bald Guy Who Sees in The Dark.
We need to foster the careers of writers with a THX-1138 up their sleeves, not necessarily those who want to make the next Avatar (ground-breaking visually, on the writing side, not so much).
THX one of my favs ever! Robert Duvall (awesome!), George Lucas (still awesome at that point & time- pre-P. Menace)...true science fiction! I remember the day I picked that VHS rental up off the rack of center aisles in the mom-and-pop video store. (Y'know, the one with the tanning booths in the back.) My mom and dad thought I was crazy when I made them watch it after dinner.
February 14, 2010 8:14 PM CST
by OutlawsDelejos
February 14, 2010 8:36 PM CST
by Autodidact
To say there is a difference between the meaning of "sci-fi" and "science fiction" is just plain idiotic.
February 14, 2010 10:35 PM CST
by JayLenoTookMyJob
Riddick has just learned me's the new god and new ruler of the Necromongers.. He glares at them for a few moments, says something like, "Yeah right, fuck this", walks out and tosses some sort of sci-fi plasma bomb into the chamber as he walks out, killing all the top Necromongers.
............. not really.
February 15, 2010 2:23 AM CST
by SouthSide_2010
They are gonna find your anus on a mountain on mars you ginger headed queer!!
And why? Cause there's a "monster" species that's not from Earth? Does that mean that "Rogue" and "Grizzley" are identical too? How about "Cujo" and "Night of the Lepus"? All the exact same movie yes? Or is it that once people see 'animal' and 'non-terran species' they immediately think 'Alien' and dismiss anything as pure copycat?
So does that mean Aliens is like Hitler's mustache? Once done, it can never be done again without ridicule?
Show of hands, who wants more Riddick?
So my hand is up i enjoyed the hell out of both movies.
...that Hollywood is missing the whole point. People liked Pitch Black, not for the generic action film actor known as Vin Diesel, but for the cool aliens! Doing a Pitch Black sequel based on Riddick is like doing an Alien movie focusing only on Ripley with no Aliens to be had! It just SUCKS!!!
I didnt like pitch black just people talking pretending to be in the future. COR was in the future cool ships big scifi beauty shots. All the riddick talking scenes in the prison int he house at the begining were boring. Come on startrek 2