If won’t be long until Vin Diesel returns as in his third outing as Riddick in the aptly named Riddick. Diesel’s first appearance as the character was in Pitch Black.
Not only was Pitch Black Vin Diesel’s breakout film, it was also the movie that put writer/director David Twohy on the map. It’s obvious that they would have an affinity for the Riddick character, and thankfully so did movie fans.
It was only natural then, that Riddick would appear in a sequel. Twohy and Diesel had big, big plans for the character. The Chronicles of Riddick was born.
The Chronicles of Riddick was to be a huge tentpole movie which took Riddick into the Neccromonger underverse. As Twohy explains…
“Had Universal said to us, ‘Let’s roll over, let’s pick it up right at the end of the last movie’ and funded it, we would have ventured into the Necromonger underverse and we would have had a big The Lord of the Rings-style movie on our hands.
The Chronicles of Riddick under-performed at the box office and many thought that would be the last of the Riddick character. Yet, Twohy and Diesel realized there was still a lot of potential left in the character.
They got the rights back and decided to make a third movie. Although this time Twohy and Diesel had a more limited budget, they also had a clear idea of what made Riddick in Pitch Black work so well.
Trent Moore, at Blastr asks…
But imagine what could’ve been if Chronicles had performed a little better. Would you have liked to see a big budget sequel, or do you prefer the current plan for Riddick?
For me the answer is easy. I prefer the current plan for Riddick.
Here’s the most recent Vin Diesel posting of himself in character as Riddick. 
