WHO’S IN IT?
Vin Diesel (The Fast and the Furious), Karl Urban (Dredd), Katee Stackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), Nolan Gerard Funk (House at the End of the Street), Dave Bautista (The Man with the Iron Fists), Jordi Mollà (Blow), Matthew Nable (Killer Elite), Bokeem Woodbine (Total Recall)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
David Twohy (Pitch Black), director, co-writer; Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell (Unknown), co-writers; Vin Diesel (xXx), Ted Field (The Last Samurai) and Samantha Vincent (Fast & Furious), producers; Graeme Revell (Pineapple Express), composer; David Eggby (Pitch Black), cinematographer; Tracy Adams (The Green Mile), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The last time we saw intergalactic criminal and anti-hero Riddick (Diesel) in the 2004 sequel The Chronicles of Riddick, he was being acknowledged as the new leader of religious fanatics the Necromongers. Now, however, he finds himself betrayed by his own kind and deserted on a desolate planet, fighting for survival against vicious alien creatures. As he is starting to become more powerful and dangerous than ever before, a group of bounty hunters descend upon Riddick and capture him, only to find themselves becoming mere pawns in Riddick’s greater scheme for revenge…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
As if Vin Diesel has enough mega movie franchises to be worried about. After three back-to-back financial hits with his return to the Fast and Furious series of films, the action star has been trying for years and years to get studio executives to greenlight a third film featuring his popular Riddick character from the 2000 breakout sci-fi hit Pitch Black (well, fourth if you include direct-to-DVD animation The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury in the mix). Their scepticism, however, is justified after the 2004 sequel The Chronicles of Riddick was something of a disappointment at the box office and with critics, but thanks to a cult following upon that film’s home release the tables were turned.
The third live-action film in the series, simply entitled Riddick, not only sees star/producer Vin Diesel reprise his role as the dangerous outer space criminal but also welcomes back director David Twohy, the helmer of both previous entries, and pretty much the rest of the behind-the-scenes crew from before. And none of them would be working on a third film, let alone even considering it, if it weren’t for the loyal fans who made it so.
The power of fandom has grown to exceptional lengths, enough to make the studio heads give in to their demands at times, and it all comes down to the expansion of technology and social media. We now live in an age where the forthcoming Veronica Mars movie, based on the cancelled but universally-adored TV show, was funded entirely by hardcore fanatics on Kickstarter. Meanwhile on Facebook, the numbers of “likes” are growing for a campaign to get a sequel to last year’s critical darling Dredd made, with even star Karl Urban (who, coincidentally, also shows up in Riddick) getting behind the movement. Heck, even the multiple sales of DVDs of The Chronicles of Riddick got this new movie made. Also take into account how major events like Comic Con in San Diego are not just excuses for people to dress in their favourite costumes anymore: for major studios, they are significant points in their films’ publicity trails. The point being, Riddick is a major example of public support being a leading cause, if not the lead cause, of getting a franchise film made. And whether it turns out good or bad, anyone and everyone who bought the DVDs and saw Riddick get into some major extra-terrestrial doo-doo can feel proud in the fact that they got exactly what they wanted and then some.
In other words, you should be excited for Riddick because, well, y’all asked for it.
