Vin Diesel Reviving Sci-Fi Franchise After Over A Decade

By Douglas Helm | Published

Vin Diesel is bringing Riddick back. According to reports, Diesel’s Riddick: Furya is set to begin shooting on August 26. The film was first announced in February 2023, and it’ll be the first film from the franchise since Riddick in 2013.

Riddick Is Back

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Vin Diesel is set to star in and produce the film, with David Twohy returning to direct and write after directing all of the previous Riddick films. Furya is set to film in Germany, Spain, and the UK. Diesel will produce under his One Race Films banner along with his sister and producing partner Samantha Vincent, while Thorsten Schumacher will produce for Rocket Science, and Lars Sylvest will produce for Thank You Studios alongside Joe Neurauter.

You Can Go Home Again

Vin Diesel’s Riddick: Furya will see the titular character return to his home world, only to find other Furyans battling to survive against a new threat. Also, the Furyans are more like Riddick than he expected. It seems likely that the new film will be more in line with Pitch Black and the 2013 film after Chronicles failed to impress with the less focused direction it took.

Returning To The Roots Of The Original

Vin Diesel’s franchise first kicked off in 2000 with the film Pitch Black, which followed the dangerous criminal Riddick who ends up stranded on a desert planet after a prison transport goes wrong. He’s forced to team up with the other survivors to escape after they learn about fearsome monsters who come out after sunset. The film also starred Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David and grossed over $53 million worldwide against a $23 million budget.

Chronicles Of Riddick Was A Mistake

The sleeper hit success of Pitch Black led to Vin Diesel returning for The Chronicles of Riddick, which had a much bigger budget of $100 million. The film starred Thandiwe Newton, Karl Urban, Alexa Davalos, Colm Feore, and Keith David. The sequel followed the titular antihero as he learned he must stop an invading warrior army. The expanded scope was met with negative reviews, and the film barely made back its budget with a worldwide box office take of $115.8 million. 

The Other Back To Basics Sequel

Fortunately, Vin Diesel wasn’t done with the Riddick franchise and was able to buy the rights to the franchise. This would allow the 2013 movie to get made, which was much better received. Riddick followed Diesel’s anti-hero as he had to team up with mercenaries to survive after being left for dead. on a desolate planet.

Vin Diesel’s Riddick put the franchise back on track with decent reviews from fans and a $98.3 million worldwide box office take. Shortly after the release of that film, Diesel and Twohy started hyping up a follow-up film. Diesel posted on Facebook about a potential sequel in 2014 before updating fans about the process in 2016, 2019, and 2022.

Release Is Still A Long Ways Off

Vin Diesel’s Riddick: Furya was finally officially announced in February 2023, and this is the first big update we’ve heard since then. Now that Furya is finally about to get production underway, we should hopefully hear some more updates about it soon. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated on this project as it develops.