The Chronicles of Riddick (franchise)

The Chronicles of Riddick
Official franchise logo
Created by	David Twohy Wheat Brothers
Original work	Pitch Black
Owner	Universal Pictures
Years	2000–present
Print publications
Novel(s)	Novels
Films and television
Film(s)	Films
Short film(s)	Shorts films
Television series	Television
Games
Video game(s)	Video games

The Chronicles of Riddick is a science fiction action space Western ^[1] media franchise created in 2000 by brothers Ken and Jim Wheat and later continued by writer-director 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 (either portrayed or voiced by Vin Diesel) 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 Wheat from a story devised by the latter brothers. Since then Twohy has solely 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)

Main article: Pitch Black (film)

The first installment of the franchise, Pitch Black, was a lower budget production compared to the later films. The story involves 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 on release but has been reappraised by many and today is considered a cult classic.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Main article: The Chronicles of Riddick

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 five 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 was not 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.^{[ citation needed ]}

Riddick (2013)

Main article: Riddick (film)

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. ^{[2] [3] [4]} 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 . ^[5] Katee Sackhoff and Matt Nable also joined the cast of the film. ^[6] Reviews were mixed, but it was considered a moderate success at the box-office and an improvement over the previous film.

Riddick 4: Furya (TBA)

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. ^[7] 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. ^[8]

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. ^[9] On 21 July 2019, Diesel announced on his Instagram that he had received Twohy’s script for Riddick 4: Furya.

Short films

The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)

Main article: The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury

Dark Fury , 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.

Video games

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)

Main article: The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

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)

Main article: The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

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. ^[10]

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 announced that he was writing the story basis for a Syfy television film/pilot episode for a proposed television series based on the Riddick character Kyra. ^[11]

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 franchise. ^[12]

Novels

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.

• Pitch Black (2000)
• The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Motion comics

Pitch Black: Slam City (2000)

Pitch Black: Slam City is a short motion comic 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 ^[13] 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 ^[14] a month before the release of the third film to generate buzz ^[15] and it is also included with the movie's home video release. ^[16]

Cast and crew

Cast

Character	Films
	Pitch Black	The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury	The Chronicles of Riddick	Riddick
	2000	2004	2004	2013
Richard B. Riddick	Vin Diesel
Jack B. Badd / Kyra	Rhiana Griffith		Alexa Davalos
Abu "Imam" al-Walid	Keith David
Carolyn Fry	Radha Mitchell
William J. Johns	Cole Hauser
Paris P. Ogilvie	Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery	Claudia Black
John "Zeke" Ezekiel	John Moore
Greg Owens	Simon Burke
Alexander Toombs		Nick Chinlund
Junner		Roger L. Jackson
Antonia Chillingsworth		Tress MacNeille
Siberius Vaako			Karl Urban
Zhylaw / Lord Marshal			Colm Feore
Aereon			Judi Dench
Dame Vaako			Thandiwe Newton
Purifier			Linus Roache
The Guv			Yorick van Wageningen
Lajjun			Kim Hawthorne
Eve Logan			Christina Cox
Colonel R. "Boss" Johns				Matthew Nable
Santana				Jordi Mollà
Dahl				Katee Sackhoff
Diaz				Dave Bautista
Moss				Bokeem Woodbine
Lockspur				Raoul Trujillo
Vargas				Conrad Pla
Luna				Nolan Gerard Funk
Krone				Andreas Apergis

Crew

Role	Film
	Pitch Black	The Chronicles of Riddick	Riddick	Riddick 4: Furya
	2000	2004	2013	TBA
Director	David Twohy
Producer(s)	Tom Engelman	Vin Diesel & Scott Kroopf	Ted Field, Vin Diesel & Samantha Vincent	TBA
Writer(s)	Ken Wheats, Jim Wheats & David Twohy	David Twohy
Composer(s)	Graeme Revell			TBA
Cinematographer(s)	David Eggby	Hugh Johnson	David Eggby	TBA
Editor(s)	Rick Shane	Tracy Adams, Martin Hunter & Dennis Virkler	Tracy Adams	TBA
Production company(s)	Gramercy Pictures Interscope Communications Polygram Filmed Entertainment	Radar Pictures One Race Films		TBA
Distributor	USA Films	Universal Pictures
Runtime	109 minutes	135 minutes	119 minutes	TBA
Release date	February 18, 2000	June 11, 2004	September 6, 2013	TBA

Characters

• Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel), more commonly known as Riddick, is the protagonist of the series. He is shown to be a highly skilled predator, extremely mobile and stealthy, has a vast knowledge of how to kill almost any humanoid in a variety of ways, is an extreme survivalist, and is notoriously hard to contain. He is also self-admittedly a dangerous convict and murderer, yet despite this, he is sometimes shown to perform moral or even atypically heroic actions, usually against his own better judgment and survivalist nature. Riddick is a Furyan, a member of a warrior race obliterated by a military campaign that left Furya desolate, and is one of the last of his kind. One of his most defining features are his eyes, a characteristic inherent in a certain caste of his species (The Alpha-Furyans), although he implies in Pitch Black that they were "shined" by a back-alley surgical operation. This allows him to see in the dark with no difficulty at all, but also renders his eyes incredibly sensitive to concentrated light, therefore he wears tinted welding goggles for protection. Riddick was once a mercenary, then part of a security force, ^[17] and later on a soldier. He is also an experienced pilot.
• Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell), is a docking pilot for the commercial transport ship Hunter-Gratzner. She has a moment of moral weakness during the emergency landing attempt, intending to sacrifice the ship's passenger section to save herself. A relationship develops between Fry and Johns, until she finds out who he really is. the group, now down to Riddick, Fry, Jack and Imam, finds shelter inside a cave not far from the settlement. Riddick leaves them there and takes the power cells to the dropship. Inside the cave, they discover bio-luminescent worms, which they stuff in bottles to use as light. Fry leaves the cave and finds Riddick powering up the ship, ready to leave without them. She pleads with him to help her rescue the others, but instead he just offers to take her with him. Eventually, Riddick has a change of heart, and they return for Imam and Jack and take them to the ship, but Riddick is separated from the group and wounded by the predators. Fry goes back to help Riddick but is killed after finding him.
• William J. Johns (Cole Hauser) is a war veteran and mercenary who was trusted to track down Riddick after he escaped from Slam City and the primary human antagonist of Pitch Black. He captured Riddick and brought him to Butcher Bay, but upon discovering that he could not get as much of a reward as he wanted, helped Riddick escape. The Johns Chase Log on the Pitch Black special features tells of the events afterward: Riddick stabs Johns and leaves him for dead. Johns becomes a morphine addict after having it prescribed to him because of the wound, and then chases Riddick down while also avoiding other mercenaries on Riddick's trail. He eventually catches Riddick on the planet Aquila Major (featured in the opening scene of Chronicles of Riddick) by killing two children and threatening to kill two more unless Riddick surrenders. He gets a seat on the transport vessel Hunter Gratzner, which crashes onto Hades in Pitch Black. After the crash, Johns convinces the survivors to help him hunt down Riddick. Johns initially disbelieves Riddick’s claims of the bio-raptors. After their discovery, Johns makes a deal with Riddick, so they could work together to survive. Riddick ultimately betrays Johns when Johns decides to use Jack as bait for the bio-raptors, resulting in Johns and Riddick fighting. Johns is defeated and left to the bio-raptors, one of which attacks Johns and rips him apart.
• Abu "Imam" al-Walid (Keith David) is an Imam who was looking for New Mecca when the Hunter-Gratzner crashed in Pitch Black . He was traveling with three young boys and despite everything he went through, including the deaths of the boys, he never lost his faith and believed there was goodness in Riddick. Imam was one of the three survivors of the first movie along with Jack and Riddick.
• Jack B. Badd/Kyra (Rhiana Griffith and Alexa Davalos) is a character from the first two Riddick movies (See above). In Pitch Black she went by the name Jack after the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner and pretended to be a boy so that everyone would take her seriously. Jack befriended Riddick and was enamoured by him. In Chronicles of Riddick, it is revealed that Riddick left her with Imam behind on Helion Prime. Wanting to find Riddick, she joined a mercenary crew, got caught and got sent to one of the worst prisons in existence: Crematoria. According to what she told Riddick later, she did what he said in an attempt to get the eye-shine like him: she killed a few people, got sent to a prison where it's said you can never escape from but couldn't find a doctor that could do an eye-shine.
• Siberius Vaako (Karl Urban) is a Necromonger Commander from The Chronicles of Riddick, serving as Zhylaw's right-hand man. Though sent to kill Riddick, confused of his leader's sudden fear, Vaako uses it as an excuse to get close enough to assassinate Zhylaw to become Lord Marshal. However, once the chance to kill Zhylaw presents itself, Riddick beats Vaako to the punch and becomes Lord Marshal. But when Riddick eventually renounces the title and gives it to him in exchange to for an escort to take him to Furya, unbeknownst to Vaako, instead of Furya, his lieutenant takes Riddick to the planet where Riddick takes place and tries to assassinate him as the lieutenant disagrees with what he perceives to be a weakness on the part of Vaako.
• Alexander Toombs (Nick Chinlund) is the mercenary from Chronicles of Riddick and Dark Fury. Toombs is shown to be highly arrogant and incompetent, failing to capture Riddick and having his ship stolen from him, and once again being humiliated during Riddick's escape from Crematoria. Toombs was last seen locked inside the Crematoria kennels surrounded by vicious guard dog-creatures. His current status is unknown, but it can be assumed that he was never rescued and is most likely dead.
• Zhylaw or Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) is the main antagonist of Chronicles of Riddick. Before Riddick's birth, Zhylaw consulted an Elemental seer, who told him that a Furyan male would be born that would kill him in the future. In retaliation, Zhylaw attacked Furya in an attempt to massacre all male children, going so far as to personally strangle newborn infants with their own umbilical cords. He strangled Riddick with his umbilical cord and believed him dead but Riddick actually survived. At some point, he traveled to the Underverse and afterwards returned not completely human. He is referred to by the Necromongers as the "Holy Half-Dead" and possesses powers such as incredible strength, the ability to pull souls from bodies and to separate his soul partially from his body and then pull his body where his soul is, resulting in a kind of super-speed that makes him hard to hit.
• Shirah (Kristin Lehman) is a Furyan seen in the Director's Cut of The Chronicles of Riddick. and the video game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.
• Purifier (Linus Roache) was a member of the Necromonger fleet. It is revealed that he, too, was Furyan like Riddick, before being converted. When Riddick falls unconscious after fighting the Necromonger soldiers chasing him, the Purifier pulls him into the safety of the hangar and tells Riddick, "We all began as something else". Regretting what he has done under a faith he did not believe in, the Purifier tells Riddick that the Furyan in him hopes that Riddick goes after the Lord Marshal, before committing suicide by walking into the sunlight of Crematoria.
• Pope Joe is a hermit, and former Bovine Veterinarian, that lives in the sewers of Butcher Bay. After Riddick retrieved his radio from the sewers, he heals Riddick, and is credited with giving him his "eyeshine" that he uses throughout the franchise to see in the dark, but may not be the actual source, as the prior information comes from the 2004 videogame The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay , which may or may not be canon.
• R. “Boss” Johns (Matthew Nable) is William J. John’s father and a mercenary, who seeks revenge on Riddick for his son’s death.

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Production budget	Reference
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
Pitch Black	February 18, 2000 (2000-02-18)	$39,240,659	$13,947,000	$53,187,659	$23 million	[18]
The Chronicles of Riddick	June 11, 2004 (2004-06-11)	$57,761,012	$58,011,721	$115,772,733	$105 million	[19]
Riddick	September 6, 2013 (2013-09-06)	$42,025,135	$56,312,160	$98,337,295	$38 million	[20]
Total		$139,026,806	$128,270,881	$267,297,687	$166 million	[21]

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Pitch Black	59% (109 reviews) [22]	49 (29 reviews) [23]	—
The Chronicles of Riddick	29% (165 reviews) [24]	38 (34 reviews) [25]	B [26]
Riddick	57% (168 reviews) [27]	49 (35 reviews) [28]	B [26]

References

1. "'Riddick': Sci-fi Western". September 24, 2013.
2. Twohy, David (November 13, 2007). "11.13.07-THE STRIKE and THE NEXT RIDDICK". David Twohy News. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
3. Williamson, Kevin (August 4, 2009). "Diesel hit opens door for Riddick sequel". ottawasun.com. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
4. Adler, Shawn (August 25, 2008). "Vin Diesel Promises Two More Riddick Sequels". MTV Movies Blog. MTV (Viacom International Inc.). Retrieved September 17, 2013.
5. "Karl Urban Returns to 'Riddick' Franchise!". BloodyDisgusting. September 23, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
6. White, James (January 9, 2009). "Katee Sackhoff Joins Riddick". Empire (EmpireOnline). Retrieved January 10, 2012.
7. Han, Angie (2014-01-28). "Universal Wants a 'Riddick' Sequel, Says Vin Diesel." SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
8. https://www.facebook.com/VinDiesel/videos/10153909302878313/ ^{[ user-generated source ]}
9. "Riddick 4: Furya Shoots in 2017; Is an R-Rated Origin Story". movieweb.com. May 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
10. "Riddick - The Merc Files". riddickthegame.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
11. "Twohy Readies Kyra Pilot". SciFi.com. June 7, 2004. Archived from the original on June 7, 2004.
12. "Riddick 4 and TV Show Spinoff Announced by Vin Diesel". movieweb.com~accessdate= 26 February 2017. December 2015.
13. The Making of Riddick: Blindsided. Vimeo. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
14. Riddick Blindsided Motion Comic HD. YouTube. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
15. McMillan, Graeme (2013-07-29). " 'Riddick' Gets 'Blindsided' with Movie Prequel Motion Comic." HollywoodReporter.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
16. Rawden, Jessica (2013-11-17). "Riddick and Riddick: The Complete Collection Hitting Blu-Ray and DVD in January." CinemaBlend.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
17. The Chronicles of Riddick, Special Features
18. "Pitch Black (2000)" . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
19. "The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)" . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
20. "Riddick (2013)" . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
21. "Kingsman Franchise Movies at the Box Office" . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
22. "Pitch Black". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
23. "Pitch Black Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
24. "The Chronicles of Riddick". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
25. "The Chronicles of Riddick Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
26. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
27. "Kingsman: Riddick". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
28. "Riddick Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 8, 2019.

External links

• Chronicles of Riddick series at MobyGames