Chronicles of Riddick sequel is finally underway as casting begins.

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Fans of one of recent cinemas most iconic anti-heroes have been listening to talk of the third film following Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick for so long it felt like we were going to end up with an Indians Jones IV situation; with a 60+ year old Diesel finally returning after finishing work on Fast 55.

But today we finally get the confirmation that this is more than just talk as writer / director David Twohy begins casting for the film. The plan is to  start filming in September. Now I know the second film (The chronicles of Riddick) wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’d always rather see a film show some ambition and try to expand on its mythology / characters and fail, than just stick to cookie cutter, the same as before but more expensive style sequelitis. There was a lot to admire in COR, but I will admit that in trying to set p a massive series of events for future films and a universal history and Mythology, the film tried to do too, much, lost a bit of focus and took away some of what people had liked about both Pitch Black and Riddick in the first place.

There’s more than a little irony in that the highly regarded game (Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay) actually did a better job of expanding the character in a fun way that h film did. That said there was more than enough in the sequel (The killing of Keith David’s character apart) and good will from Pitch Black to make a sequel a viable idea and something that sufficient people wanted. Of course Diesel reasserting his box office muscle with Fast & Furious and Fast 5 has also helped and it is likely that the massive global audience from Fast 5 may be convinced to spend some more time with Riddick whilst they wait for Fast 6 to arrive.

The casting notes provide a mild spoiler so I’ll put that after trailers for the first two films...

Pitch Black (AKA The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black)...

The Chronicles of Riddick...

Minor  spoiler

Casting...

As well as the standard kick ass “sexy female Mercenary” and  “Smug Commander” there’s a character called “Boss Johns” who really has to be connect to the character from Pitch Black and the Assault on Dark Athena game, played and voiced by Cole Hauser.