The Chronicles of Riddick (franchise)


The Chronicles of 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 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 and brothers Ken and Jim Wheats. 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)

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 spaceship. When the craft 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 when it initially came out in theaters but has been reappraised by many and 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 four 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 is generally considered to be a slight improvement and received strong sales.

''Riddick'' (2013)

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. 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. Katee Sackhoff and Matt Nable also joined the cast of the film. Reviews were mixed, but it was considered a moderate success at the box-office and an improvement over the previous film.

''Riddick 4: Furya''

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. 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 Furya and will have an R rating.
In April 2016, Vin Diesel confirmed that he and writer-director David Twohy were developing a fourth Riddick movie titled The Chronicles of Riddick: Furya. In May 2016, he explained that production on The Chronicles of Riddick: Furya may begin in early 2017. In a video, Vin Diesel asked: "Are you guys excited to hear about Furya? Do you want to know where it all began with that dark character Riddick?". David Twohy confirmed that the new film would be rated R. On 21 July 2019, Diesel announced on his Instagram that he had received Twohy’s script for Riddick 4: Furya.

Short films

''Pitch Black: Slam City'' (2000)

Pitch Black: 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 being charged with capturing Riddick.

''Riddick: Blindsided'' (2013)

Riddick: Blindsided is a motion comic based on storyboarded scenes 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 a month before the release of the third film to generate buzz and it is also included with the movie's home video release.

Animated film

''The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury'' (2004)

, 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.

Television

''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.

Future

In June 2004, David Twohy, co-screenwriter and director of Pitch Black and writer-director of its sequels The Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick, said in June 2004 he was writing the story basis for a Syfy television film/pilot based on the Riddick character Kyra.
In December 2015, Diesel announced on his Instagram account that both he and Twohy developed a TV series titled Merc City that will follow the Mercs and Bounty Hunters of the Riddick Universe. The posts did not elaborate on how, if at all, Merc City would be connected to the upcoming film. Since then, no further information about Merc City has been released.

Cast and crew

Cast

Crew

Box office performance

Critical and public response

Other media

Video games

''The Chronicles of Riddick: 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 Xbox games of all time".

''The Chronicles of Riddick: 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 mostly positive.

''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.

Novelizations

''Pitch Black'' (2000)

''The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004)

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.