Many people, after seeing David Twohy’s “The Chronicles Of Riddick” probably thought that the franchise had gone off the tracks.  While its predecessor, 2000’s “Pitch Black” can essentially be summed up as seven or eight people caught in enemy territory (which for them was an entire planet) trying to make their way to a ship, and safety.

‘Chronicles’ took the Riddick character from that film, and placed him in a larger, more expansive canvas.  I can see how this would disturb some, in that the character they knew was a lone wolf, and did his best “work” alone, from the shadows.

On the positive side of the ledger, the film opened up an entire universe for Riddick to play in, though what I liked about it most was that his savage nature remained intact.  It also had an almost Shakespearian feel to it, which I thought was interesting.

“The Chronicles Of Riddick,” while not a failure at the box office, performed weakly, and for a while it seemed that the third film wasn’t going to happen.

Luckily, Vin Diesel championed the project, and he David Twohy kept at it till their vision became a reality.  This film, Riddick is going back to basics, and that’s a good thing (not so good for anyone–or anything–that gets in his way).

Thanks to the guys at Superherohype for the little tidbit.