The Chronicles of Riddick | |
---|---|
Directed by |
David Twohy (Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick) Peter Chung (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury) |
Produced by | Tom Engelman (Pitch Black) Scott Kroopf (The Chronicles of Riddick) Vin Diesel (The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick) Ted Field (Riddick) Samantha Vincent (Riddick) |
Written by | David Twohy Jim Wheat (Pitch Black) Ken Wheat (Pitch Black) Brett Matthews (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury) |
Based on |
Characters by Jim Wheat Ken Wheat |
Starring | Vin Diesel |
Music by | Graeme Revell |
Production
company |
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Interscope Communications (Pitch Black) Radar Pictures One Race Films (The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick) |
Distributed by |
Universal Pictures USA Films (Pitch Black) Gramercy Pictures (Pitch Black) Entertainment One (Riddick) |
Country | United States United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $166 - 181 million |
Box office | $261 million |
The Chronicles of Riddick, also simply called 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 (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, Ken Wheat, and his brother Jim Wheat. 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.
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 ship. When the spaceship 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 but today is considered a cult classic.