Vin Diesel’s ‘Riddick: Furya’ Moving Forward

The next instalment in the ‘Chronicles of Riddick’ series that kicked off with ‘Pitch Black’ is looking for financing ahead of a new shoot.

Vin Diesel as Riddick in 2000's 'Pitch Black.'

You might think that Vin Diesel had enough big franchises to keep him going these days: not only is there the behemoth ‘Fast & Furious’ series, whose latest entry, ‘Fast X’, just released a typically wild trailer, but also the relatively easy job of showing up to voice booths and recording the variations on Groot’s “I am Groot” line for the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movies, whose own ‘Vol. 3’ also touted its cine-wares during this weekend’s Super Bowl.

But before either of those happened along, there was Riddick, and breakout sci-fi action thriller ‘Pitch Black’. Now, after a few years of occasional chatter from Diesel and writer/director David Twohy, it looks like a fourth entry for the Riddick saga might finally be happening.

‘Pitch Black’, of course, was followed by the bloated and less satisfying 2004 sequel ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’, before the series returned to its stripped-down roots in 2013’s ‘Riddick’. Now it appears even Riddick is going back to his own roots with ‘Riddick: Furya.’

In the story, according to Deadline, Riddick finally returns to his home world, a place he barely remembers and one he fears might be left in ruins by the Necromongers. But there he finds other Furyans fighting for their existence against a new enemy. And some of these Furyans are more like Riddick than he could have ever imagined… Which makes us think there could be cloning involved.

Commenting on the new development, Twohy said,

“Our legion of fans have demanded it for years, and now we’re finally ready to honor their call to action with ‘Riddick: Furya’. My collaboration with Vin and One Race has spanned 20 fruitful years, as together we’ve created three movies, two video games, an anime production, and motion comics for the internet. This new big-screen event will see a return to Riddick’s homeworld, where we finally get to explore Riddick’s genesis.”

The rights will be on sale at this month’s European Film Market, kicking off next week. While Universal released the first three movies, there’s no mention of the studio’s involvement yet.

(Center) Vin Diesel in 2004's 'The Chronicles of Riddick.'

Who is Richard B. Riddick?

Diesel’s burly, cranky character first appeared in ‘Pitch Black’ as a convict in a ship transporting different groups of people that crashes on a planet filled with bloodthirsty creatures––the twist being, the critters only come out at night, and this is a planet with three suns. Unfortunately, a total solar eclipse is on the way… Riddick is genetically modified with eyes that are very sensitive to light, giving him an advantage over the others in battling the monsters.

‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ attempted to expand Riddick’s mythology, broadening the scope and putting the title character up against the evil Necromongers on a prison planet. It might have featured the likes of Judi Dench in its cast, but the larger movie didn’t receive as many plaudits––at least, not until its home entertainment director’s cut releases.

The surprise success of that led to ‘Riddick’, which returned to the series’ origins and once more placed Riddick on a desolate planet with a lot of nasty beasts and some dangerous humanoids to boot.

Riddick’s movies have spawned several video games, a TV prequel special and plans for other spin-offs that have yet to materialize. ‘Riddick: Furya’ marks the first concrete forward movement in years. But then, Riddick always was a survivor…