I’m pretty sure I’ve gone on record as being a fan of the Chronicles of Riddick, and I am mildly excited about another Riddick movie (though, given my track record, I won’t be watching it in the theatre). Given that, I was very interested in the article in Collider about concept art being used to get the needed cash to make the movie.

It looks like an attempt to get back to the Pitch Black style of Riddick, which is fine. I know I’m not in the majority, but I really did love the world/universe building that was going on in Chronicles.

I’m interested because it’s a Riddick movie, and because I’ve liked the other two movies in the series. There is nothing, however, about the concept outside of this that really makes me take notice. As such, my excitement remains only mild.

It seems we may have a synopsis for the next Riddick movie, apparently just titled Riddick. According to Shock Till You Drop,

Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick (Diesel) fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.

I had read that they were going back to Pitch Black, and while it sounds like much of the action could be tighter focused, like PB, the story and backstory provided in the Chronicles of Riddick are being retained. Given that I am actually a fan of tCoR, that makes me happy.

This isn’t official, and it isn’t even very widespread, so it is possible the story will be totally different. Let’s wait and see.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I actually enjoyed the Chronicles of Riddick. Yes, it was worlds away from Pitch Black (pun intended), but I loved the world-building and loved the mix of fantasy and science fiction. A perfect movie? No. An enjoyable movie? Hells yeah.

So it looks like the often mentioned but never pursued sequel –or would that be the third in the series—may actually be a go. Or maybe not. I mean, nothing is ever certain when we’re talking about making movies, right?

Variety is saying that Universal has domestic rights and that foreign rights are still up for grabs. What that means is that someone is committed to making this film. The word is it’s going to be cheaper than the Chronicles of Riddick, probably closer to Pitch Black. This makes me wonder how they are going to deal with the story left hanging in the last movie.

I’ll be interested to see where this franchise goes. I actually prefer the superhero Riddick of the second movie to the pseudo-psychopath of the first. Yeah, “Pitch Black Riddick” was badass, but “Chronicles Riddick” was an out-and-out hero. I prefer the latter.