David Twohy‘s 2000 Pitch Black was our major introduction to action star Vin Diesel, who went on to become a household name with The Fast and the Furious.
And even though Diesel has become one of the biggest players in the game, he’s always continued to do projects for himself. It’s one of the things I love about him. While Diesel could take on countless franchise roles, he continues to force projects into production that he personally loves. A perfect example is The Last Witch Hunter, which was an obvious disaster at the box office. But before that, there was Pitch Black, which has been the glue to his roots. Nobody is asking for sequels based on the film, but he continues to back them, presumably because he enjoys the character, and working with Twohy.
Pitch Black was followed by the 2004 The Chronicles of Riddick, and then the surprisingly successful 2013 Riddick (it nearly passed $100 million worldwide). I personally never believed Riddick would happen, so when Diesel stated that another sequel was in the works, I’ve learned to believe him. Talk about a guy who stands his ground and gets shit done.
Anyways, Diesel acts as his own publicist quite a bit, prematurely announcing everything (he uses this to his advantage). So, it comes as an unsurprising surprise that he’s announced that the adventures of Riddick will continue in both a feature film sequel and television series!
Diesel’s One Race Films is behind both, with Twohy starting work on the script for Chronicles of Riddick: Furia next month. The series is tentatively titled “Merc City” and will follow the Mercs and Bounty Hunters of the Riddick Universe.
Riddick was an astoundingly fun sequel that reignited my love for the character and had me both believing in Diesel’s passion of the franchise, and begging for more.
The franchise began with Pitch Black, in which a commercial transport ship and its crew are marooned on a planet full of bloodthirsty creatures that only come out to feast at night. But then, they learn that a month-long eclipse is about to occur.