The Chronicles of Riddick (franchise)

The Chronicles of Riddick
Directed by David Twohy (Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick)
Peter Chung (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury)
Produced by Tom Engelman (Pitch Black)
Scott Kroopf (The Chronicles of Riddick)
Vin Diesel (The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick)
Ted Field (Riddick)
Samantha Vincent (Riddick)
Written by David Twohy
Jim Wheat (Pitch Black)
Ken Wheat (Pitch Black)
Brett Matthews (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury)
Based on Characters 
by Jim Wheat
Ken Wheat
Starring Vin Diesel
Music by Graeme Revell
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
USA Films (Pitch Black)
Gramercy Pictures (Pitch Black)
Entertainment One (Riddick, co-distribution in Canada and United Kingdom)
Country United States
United Kingdom (Riddick)
Language English
Budget $166 - 181 million[1]
Box office $261 million[2][3]

The Chronicles of Riddick, also simply called Riddick, is a science fiction action media franchise created in 2000 by David Twohy spanning three live-action feature films, a direct-to-DVD animated film, two video games for PC and consoles, one motion comic, one mobile game, and two novelizations.

The series follows the adventures of antihero character Riddick (either portrayed or voiced by Vin Diesel) in the 28th century. The Chronicles of Riddick fictional universe was initially created with the release of Pitch Black, which was written by director Twohy, Ken Wheat, and his brother Jim Wheat. Since then Twohy has written and directed the two live action sequels and was involved in the development of the storyline of a number of the franchise's offshoots.

Films

Pitch Black (2000)

Main article: Pitch Black (film)

The first installment of the franchise, Pitch Black, was a lower budget production compared to the later ones. The story involved Riddick being transported to prison on the Hunter Gratzner, a commercial cargo ship. When the spaceship is damaged in the wake of a comet and makes an emergency crash landing on an isolated desert planet, Riddick escapes. However, when flying creatures begin attacking all the survivors, Riddick joins forces with the others to escape the planet. After the release of the sequel titled The Chronicles of Riddick, in the hopes of building a franchise, this film has often been referred to as The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black in subsequent home video re-releases. It received mixed reviews but today is considered a cult classic.

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

The second feature film in the series, The Chronicles of Riddick was a considerably more expensive production and was more action oriented than its predecessor. It takes place five years after Pitch Black and involved Riddick's meeting with Jack and Imam, survivors from the first film, his escape from the prison planet Crematoria, and his battle with the Necromonger fleet, which ended with the defeat of the Lord Marshal and Riddick taking his place. Critically it wasn't received as well as the first film in the franchise, but the release of a director's cut DVD received strong sales and a cult following.

Riddick (2013)

Main article: Riddick (film)

Encouraged by high DVD sales and Vin Diesel's newly restored box office success, David Twohy wrote a script for a third film in the Riddick series.[4][5][6] The film was produced by Media Rights Capital and distributed by Universal, and was released on September 6, 2013. Karl Urban returned to reprise his role as Vaako from The Chronicles of Riddick.[7] Katee Sackhoff and Matt Nable also joined the cast of the film.[8] Reviews were mixed, but it was considered an improvement over the previous film.

Fourth film

In January 2014, Diesel announced on his Facebook page that Universal wishes to develop a fourth Riddick film, again prompted by robust DVD sales of the most recent film in the series.[9] They were looking into Media Rights Capital or Legendary Pictures to co-finance it. Diesel announced on his Facebook page that the fourth film is titled Furia and will have an R rating.[10]

TV series

Diesel announced on his Instagram account that both he and Twohy developed a TV series titled Merc City that will follow Mercs and bounty Hunters in the Riddick universe.[11]

Characters

Character Film
Pitch Black
(2000)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury
(2004) (Animated)
The Chronicles of Riddick
(2004)
Riddick: Blindsided
(2013)
Riddick
(2013)
Richard B. Riddick Vin Diesel
Jackie "Jack" B. Badd/Kyra Rhiana Griffith Alexa Davalos
Abu 'Imam' al-Walid Keith David
Carolyn Fry Radha Mitchell
William J. Johns Cole Hauser
Paris P. Ogilvie Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Alexander Toombs Nick Chinlund
Junner Roger L. Jackson
Antonia Chillingsworth Tress MacNeille
Siberius Vaako Karl Urban
Zhylaw/Lord Marshal Colm Feore
Aereon Judi Dench
Dame Vaako Thandie Newton
Purifier Linus Roache
Colonel R. "Boss" Johns Matthew Nable
Santana Jordi Mollà
Dahl Katee Sackhoff
Diaz Dave Bautista
Moss Bokeem Woodbine

Additional media

Other films

Pitch Black: Slam City (2000)

Slam City is a short flash film prequel to Pitch Black by animator Brian Murray with David Twohy which had been available for download at the Pitch Black website. Slam City is in the form of an official, confidential prison record detailing Riddick's arrival and escape from the Ursa Luna Slam City facility, in eleven hours and twenty-two minutes. Notably, it shows Riddick undergoing the surgery that gives him "eyeshine" — the ability to see in the dark — and paying for this with a pack of Kool cigarettes, as mentioned in Pitch Black. William J. Johns is seen at the end of the film and is charged with capturing Riddick.

Into Pitch Black (2000)

Into Pitch Black is a Sci-Fi channel special which aired before Pitch Black, and was about lawmen investigating Riddick's past as well as an investigation into the crash of The Hunter Gratzner. It shows several inconsistencies with the official storyline of the other films and video games. There are five different sequences, that of the investigator, a psychiatrist evaluating Riddick, the alleged doctor who gave Riddick his trademark eyeshine, the team that investigated the disappearance of the Hunter-Gratzner, as well as various clips of the actual movie Pitch Black.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)

Dark Fury, a made-for-DVD animated film, acts as a bridge between the live-action films of Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. It takes place shortly after Pitch Black and involves Riddick and the other two survivors of Pitch Black, Jack and Imam, and their run-in with a mercenary ship, as well as its captain who wishes to keep Riddick frozen as part of her collection of warriors from around the universe. It received mixed reviews.

Riddick: Blindsided (2013)

Riddick: Blindsided is a motion comic based on storyboarded scenes[13] of the third film that didn't make the theatrical cut. It takes place shortly before the events of Riddick and bridges that film with the previous one. The director's cut of Riddick reinserts most of the material covered in Blindsided back into the film. It was released online[14] a month before the release of the third film to generate buzz[15] and it is also included with the movie's home video release.[16]

Video games

The Hunt for Riddick (2004)

The Hunt for Riddick is a web-based point-and-click flash game published by Universal Studios which acts as a prequel to The Chronicles of Riddick. The player controls a merc under employ of Toombs, travelling the galaxy in search of Riddick. The game ends on Planet UV, where Riddick is found to be stranded at the beginning of Chronicles of Riddick. The game is no longer available on the Universal Studios website, but is partially playable using the Wayback Machine.

Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)

Escape from Butcher Bay is a video game based on the Riddick series, released for the Xbox and Windows PC. It acts as a prequel to Pitch Black, and involves Riddick's escape from the eponymous prison, Butcher Bay. The game was very well received and it is often listed among "the greatest video games of all time".

Assault on Dark Athena (2009)

Assault on Dark Athena is a video game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and Mac OS X computers. It includes an enhanced remake of Escape from Butcher Bay, and covers events between the previous game and Pitch Black. Reviews were strong.

Riddick: The Merc Files (2013)

Riddick: The Merc Files is a touch-based stealth action game for Android and iOS devices. It was developed by Gaming Corps, a game developer founded by some of the original developers of the previous Riddick games.[17]

Novelizations

Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick have received novelizations of their scripts, by Frank Lauria and Alan Dean Foster respectively. These expand on elements of the films, most notably Pitch Black providing character backstory for Riddick and The Chronicles of Riddick describing the Necromongers and their religion in greater detail.

References

  1. "estimated budget". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  2. "Riddick (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  3. "Riddick (2011)". The Numbers. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  4. Twohy, David (13 November 2007). "11.13.07-THE STRIKE and THE NEXT RIDDICK". David Twohy News. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  5. Williamson, Kevin (August 4, 2009). "Diesel hit opens door for Riddick sequel". ottawasun.com. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  6. Adler, Shawn (August 25, 2008). "Vin Diesel Promises Two More Riddick Sequels". MTV Movies Blog. MTV (Viacom International Inc.). Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  7. "Karl Urban Returns to 'Riddick' Franchise!". BloodyDisgusting. September 23, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  8. White, James. (January 9, 2009). "Katee Sackhoff Joins Riddick". Empire (EmpireOnline). Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  9. Han, Angie (2014-01-28). "Universal Wants a 'Riddick' Sequel, Says Vin Diesel." SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  10. The Chronicles of Riddick, Special Features
  11. The Making of Riddick: Blindsided. Vimeo. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  12. Riddick Blindsided Motion Comic HD. YouTube. September 3, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  13. McMillan, Graeme (2013-07-29). " 'Riddick' Gets 'Blindsided' with Movie Prequel Motion Comic." HollywoodReporter.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  14. Rawden, Jessica (2013-11-17). "Riddick and Riddick: The Complete Collection Hitting Blu-Ray and DVD in January." CinemaBlend.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  15. "Riddick - The Merc Files". riddickthegame.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015.

External links

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