Amph "I'm Going to Kill You With My Tea Cup": The Chronicles of Riddick

Some news on the sequels:

Riddick Director David Twohy on More Chronicles
Written by Scott Collura

Friday, 12 November 2004

A lot of fans were disappointed last summer when Vin Diesel?s The Chronicles of Riddick didn?t fare very well at the box office. The sequel to the cult sci-fi hit Pitch Black, Riddick was to be the first in a proposed trilogy of films further detailing the adventures of Diesel?s futuristic mercenary antihero, Richard B. Riddick.

With the film debuting on DVD next week, David Twohy, who wrote and directed Chronicles, took the time to talk to Now Playing Magazine about whether or not we'll ever see the remaining two films in the planned Riddick trilogy.

?[Sequels are] still a possibility, but many eyes are watching this DVD release very closely,? Twohy says, in reference to Universal?s number crunchers. ?Remember that we were saying all along that we knew where the story goes from this point forward, but we hopefully didn?t have so much hubris to say that we were definitely making a trilogy out of this. What we were saying was, ?We know what the macro arc is,? and if we were fortunate enough to be successful in this one we knew where we would pick up in the next one. We had it in our minds and there are certain setups in The Chronicles of Riddick for future films, including the Shirah character who now appears in the [director?s cut DVD], a character who did not make it into the theatrical version at all.?

The filmmaker explains that Shirah (played by Kristin Lehman) was dropped from the theatrical film very late in the process, but that she will figure prominently in any sequels.

?It was decided that character just brought a little more confusion than enlightenment to the theatrical cut and so we decided to pull her scenes out,? he continues. ?Basically, she belonged to the same race as Riddick and she helped shed light on his past. Why was he strangled at birth? Why did somebody try to murder him at birth? All that got put back into this DVD, so it?s a more layered experience.?

The mythology of the Riddick universe will also be further fleshed out, should sequels be commissioned. And whether that happens or not would seem to depend entirely on how well the DVD sells in the next few weeks.

?We would talk a lot about the Underverse ? this being the sort of collision of Heaven and Hell for the Necromonger empire ? and what that all is, and we?d venture across it,? Twohy says. ?We know the Lord Marshal character gained some powers there by stepping in, having one foot in this land of the Necromonger dead. And he came back with this power of soul separation. So it?s a very interesting place, and thought to be a physical place, and if we had the opportunity to continue the story we would surely like to go there.?

 

Well, the SciFiWire has some more Riddick articles:

Lehman Talks Riddick Edits

Kristin Lehman, who played an enigmatic character named Shirah in The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire that she discovered that her scenes had been cut out of the movie only about a week before the film's premiere. Director David Twohy broke the news about the scenes cut from the theatrical release version of the film, which have been restored in the upcoming DVD release. "There was a lot he and the studio wanted to impart and accomplish, but Shirah's involvement in Riddick's [Vin Diesel] development wasn't clear enough to test audiences," Lehman said in an interview. "I really loved playing Shirah, but I trusted David when he told me the reasons my character had to go."

Lehman added, "I trusted it wasn't because of performance. And I was OK about it. My role role was highly visual, but very small in terms of the scope of such an ambitious film."

Twohy has edited Lehman's scenes back into The Chronicles of Riddick for the upcoming unrated director's cut DVD. Now, Lehman said, viewers can decide for themselves if their interpretation of the character matches the one she and Twohy tried to impart. "I can tell you she was intended to awaken Riddick to his true identity, power and birthright: Furyan," Lehman said. "She was essentially the keeper of the Furyan legacy, a warrior who served as a beacon to bring Furyans back." The Chronicles of Riddick: The Unrated Director's Cut will be available on Nov. 16 from Universal Studios Home Video. Universal Studios Home Video is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

And:

Twohy Talks Riddick 2

David Twohy, director of The Chronicles of Riddick, told Now Playing Magazine that further installments of the proposed Riddick trilogy of films will depend in part on the performance of the upcoming Riddick director's cut DVD, which hits stores next week. The first Chronicles of Riddick film didn't fare well at the box office in its premiere this year.

Sequels are "still a possibility, but many eyes are watching this DVD release very closely," Twohy told the new magazine. "Remember that we were saying all along that we knew where the story goes from this point forward, but we hopefully didn't have so much hubris to say that we were definitely making a trilogy out of this. What we were saying was, 'We know what the macro arc is, and if we were fortunate enough to be successful in this one, we knew where we would pick up in the next one.' We had it in our minds, and there are certain setups in The Chronicles of Riddick for future films, including the Shirah character [played by Kristin Lehman], who now appears in the [director's cut DVD], a character who did not make it into the theatrical version at all."

If a sequel is made, Lehman's character, a Furyan who appears to Vin Diesel's Riddick in a vision, will play a more prominent role, Twohy said. The mythology of the Riddick universe will also be further fleshed out, Twohy said. "We would talk a lot about the Underverse, this being the sort of collision of heaven and hell for the Necromonger empire, and what that all is, and we'd venture across it," he said. "We know the Lord Marshal character [Colm Feore] gained some powers there by stepping in, having one foot in this land of the Necromonger dead. And he came back with this power of soul separation. So it's a very interesting place, and thought to be a physical place, and if we had the opportunity to continue the story we would surely like to go there." The Chronicles of Riddick: The Unrated Director's Cut will be available on Nov. 16 from Universal Studios Home Video. Universal Studios Home Video is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

Now Playing Magazine, a spinoff of Computer Games Magazine, launches as a stand-alone publication in February.

 

I hope the dvd does well and looking forward to getting my copy. I really enjoyed Chronicles of Riddick as did my friends I saw it with. A shame it didn't do better. I'm glad the game was done really well. It seem to be 9 or higher out of 10 in a lot of gaming magazines and sites.

 

...yeah, i plan on doing my part in supporting Riddick and purchasing the DVD..

The film was flawed in it's theatrical release, but i keep hearing that the director's cut is an improvement.

We'll see!

 

I'm probably going to wait for christmas for this one. I just can't afford it now

 

New article on this from the SciFiWire:

Diesel: Make Riddick 2 Cheaper

Vin Diesel, who starred in The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire that he thinks the franchise will soldier on, even though it fared less well at the box office than hoped. "It depends who you ask," Diesel said in an interview while promoting the DVD release of The Chronicles of Riddick Unrated Director's Cut. "For me, we made Pitch Black with $20 million. I think you can continue this character regardless of the film budget."

Diesel added, "Will the next film be a PG, $100 million-and-something movie? Could the next film be?by virtue of the fact it takes place in the Underverse, which is obviously going to be a lot more gruesome than New Mecca?rated R? We would return to the rated-R fashion that Pitch Black was shot in."

Diesel also produced Riddick and has said that he and writer-producer David Twohy envisioned it kicking off a trilogy. But he added that it's a gamble to create a mythology and prepare for a trio of films when there's no assurance that it will all come to pass. "It is thrilling, and it's frightening," Diesel said. "It's thrilling, because you're really going for a story that isn't done in a reactionary way. It isn't like we've done a film and said, 'Oh, we've made a lot of money off that. OK, let's put something together and do another one.' I think we're being responsible in our storytelling by thinking up all three stories before making the first one. But there is that level of anxiety, because you get questions like, 'Is the future film dependent on that?' It's a realistic question. But if you're enjoying the creative process it's not life-threatening to be creative." The Chronicles of Riddick Unrated Director's Cut will be available on Nov. 16 from Universal Studios Home Video. Universal Studios Home Video is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

 

And yet another article:

Riddick Sets Up Trilogy

Vin Diesel, who stars in The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire he's pleased that the new unrated director's-cut DVD restores three pivotal scenes featuring Kristin Lehman as Shirah, a character who was designed to play a larger role in subsequent installments. "I think those scenes give you a sense of origin," Diesel said in an interview. "I think they start to flesh out a sense of origin for our Riddick character, this enigmatic character, enigmatic protagonist."

Diesel added, "In a cool way, the Shirah character really comes in at important moments, like when he's on the runway. The Shirah character, in creating this story, was designed to introduce Riddick to his Furyan nature. So, on the runway, she unleashes the radiance of [Furya], this burst of Furyan energy that actually repels his negative energy, which is this long explanation that you'll see in future Chronicles of Riddick pictures."

Diesel, who also co-produced Chronicles of Riddick, said that when he and writer-director David Twohy developed the Riddick storyline, they did so thinking of it as the first installment in a trilogy. "The Shirah character plays to that," Diesel said. "The Shirah character is introduced in this film, but it's paid off in the third film, if you will. The way that it's designed?and I hope I'm not giving too much away?in Chronicles of Riddick 2 we now go to the Underverse, and then C3 is that final return home to Furya. That's [the trilogy] in a nutshell."

For her part, Lehman told SCI FI Wire in a separate interview that Twohy intended to restore her scenes, though they were cut from the theatrical release. "These are characters and stories that literally came from him, so his investment in them and his [desire to fully realize his] vision is understandable," Lehman said. "I do think Shirah adds an element of mystique to Riddick. We want to know more about his connection to a world he is only discovering. [She's] a metaphor for his inner terrain, I think." The Chronicles of Riddick Unrated Director's Cut hits retailers on Nov. 16 from Universal Studios Home Video, which is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

 

...yeah, i picked up my copy today, too (though no best buy special edition for me. Just went for the straight up director's cut)..

Watched up to the point where Riddick gets to Helion Prime (i was at work, what can i say? )

As far as i could tell, there were already 2 restored-scenes (one of Kyra gettin' thrown in prison, and one with Riddick having a dream about Furyans in cryo-sleep)

I don't care what other people say, this was a cool flick.

 

Man, sounds like they chopped out a lot from this. You guys want to make a complete list of restored scenes?

Here's yet another scifiwire article:

DVD Restores Riddick Action

David Twohy, writer/director of the SF movie The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire that the director's-cut DVD restores footage deemed too violent for the film's theatrical PG-13 rating. "I submitted the film seven times to the [Motion Picture Association of America], and only on the seventh time did they say, 'OK, that's a PG-13,'" Twohy said in an interview. "Each time, I had taken stuff out of the movie. So I gathered up all of that stuff and put it back in. So the action sequences are longer and tougher."

Twohy said that the action in the director's cut is more intense than in the theatrical version. "There's a decapitation in this version of it," he said. "[There's] a lot of intense action, even in terms of sound sometimes: how hard a hit was, how 'wet' a sound was. The theatrical version had to dry out a lot of the sounds. We mixed it wet, so we just went back to the wet version of the soundtrack." Describing one scene in which he beefed up the action, Twohy said, "It was restoring the action, and particularly what we call 'One step, one kill.' We never invoked that to the MPAA, but that was the sequence during the escape from the prison, and the sun is rising behind them, and Vaako's men are in front of them, and they have to get into that hangar. It was shot as this great, brutal affair, and it got watered down because of the PG-13 rating, and I was most interested in restoring that to its full thing. And we were able to do that."

Twohy added that he also restored scenes that aided plot and character development. "I went back and looked at some of those scenes, how we had originally cut them four months before the release of the movie, and while I found them to be slower, they were also richer," Twohy said. "You knew more about the characters. There were more nuances to the characters. So I went back in and as often as not went for the earlier cuts of a given scene. We understand Riddick better. We understand Imam better. We certainly understand the Vaako characters better, the two characters played by Karl Urban and Thandie Newton, as they conspire to unseat the Lord Marshal and as they contemplate regicide. You understand that better, because I'm allowed to present their full scenes. There's some sexuality in their scenes as well that we [cut] from the theatrical version, and I was able to restore that." The Chronicles Of Riddick: The Unrated Director's Cut is now on store shelves.

 

Twohy said that the action in the director's cut is more intense than in the theatrical version.

Yeah, the little bit that i've watched so far, you definitely notice the action being a bit more 'violent'. For instance, at the beginning on the Ice Planet, the guy that Riddick tosses off of the top of Toombs' ship has his head smack off of a cliffside. Makes a bonecrunching sound that really made me cringe. I dont' remember that from the theatrical cut.

 

Interesting. I'm looking forwards to seeing that character that was cut.

 

-Riddick's "all back of the bus" internal dialogue en route to Cremetoria from the theatrical version has been removed.

Really? That's a shame. I liked that line a lot. Sure it was a bit racist, but it was funny and totally in character for Riddick. It's not as if we haven't heard worse racist lines in movies.

Anyways, I have the DVD, but I haven't got around to watching it yet. It sounds pretty good from what I hear, though.

I think it's a crying shame that we'll probably never see the sequels to this movie. Damn the general moviegoing population! Most folks just dismissed this flick because of Vin Diesel's presense, and that just sucks.

 

Well, yeah, it was Universal's fault, too. Damn them also! The critics also should share in some of the blame, too, since many people rely on their opinions to decide what movies they want to see.

This movie was bashed pretty heavily, but I really don't see why. Sure, it's not the greatest story ever told, but it is a fun, enjoyable popcorn flick. What is it about critics (most of them, anyway) that prevents them from just sitting back and enjoying the ride that movies like this one provide?

 

Universal is better than Fox...


New Article:
Twohy Relived Riddick On DVD

David Twohy, writer and director of The Chronicles of Riddick, told SCI FI Wire that he noted his own film's flaws in the audio commentary for the director's-cut DVD. "I always have dissatisfaction with my films," Twohy said in an interview. "Any time I see them, I go straight to the stuff that isn't right, and I beat myself up. I can't even see the good stuff. But that said, it is actually nice to kick back and watch the film with the actors and relive the better days on the set."

Twohy admitted there were some tense moments on set, but said that he enjoyed reliving them while recording the commentary. "Every set has good days, and every set has bad days, but it was a fun experience laying down the commentary," he said. "That's like the real premiere for me. Premieres aren't fun at all. They're tension-filled. But when you kick back with the actors, and you can laugh at yourself, you're laughing at tense moments, like I did on a couple of occasions with Karl [Urban, who plays Vaako]. When we did the commentary we were laughing about that tension on the set."

Twohy said that Urban revealed a few surprising reactions to his direction while they recorded his audio commentary. That was a healthy thing, he added. "Karl says one time he was shooting a scene with the second unit, and I went over to 'bless the scene,' and I spent all of my time dealing with the extra who was standing next to him," Twohy said. "I was assuming because it was an easy scene for Karl, he didn't need any leadership in that moment. But he brought it up in the commentary and said, 'You spent your whole time talking to the extra! What was that all about?' I never knew he felt that way until it came out." The Chronicles of Riddick: The Unrated Director's Cut DVD is now in stores from Universal Studios Home Video, which is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.



Sounds like there's some cool changes. I think that I'm going to ask for this for christmas...

 

...yeah, it does stink that we'll probably never see the other two films in this trilogy..

Twohy makes movies that are just really easy to rewatch over and over and over again, ya know? And he always seems to be doing something that's SLIGHTLY different from the norm, slightly offbeat.. Sadly, i don't think he'll ever have much mainstream success...

Course, it really ticks me off that so many people stayed away from this movie because they hate Vin Diesel, too..

(A hatred i just can't understand. Vin seems like a nice enough guy! Does he eat babies, or something?)


At any rate, i've managed to make it up to the point where Riddick is on Crematoria..The most improved thing that i've noticed so far are the action sequences: They're MUCH more coherent in this uncut format. My biggest complaint during the theatrical release was that the action sometimes was a bit hard to follow. Now i understand WHY, because it had been hacked half to death!

 

..yeah, it does stink that we'll probably never see the other two films in this trilogy..

Twohy makes movies that are just really easy to rewatch over and over and over again, ya know? And he always seems to be doing something that's SLIGHTLY different from the norm, slightly offbeat.. Sadly, i don't think he'll ever have much mainstream success...

Course, it really ticks me off that so many people stayed away from this movie because they hate Vin Diesel, too..



Hopefully the DVDs will sell high enough to make a sequel, I mean, they're thinking of making a Catwoman 2!

And yeah, I noticed that I can really watch PB several times, as well as Riddick...

 

Yeah, I would to. I think that I just read that they were looking into it, even if it did horribly.
I think that they'll add on to the series... Pitch Black, IIRC, didn't do that well either...
GAH!

It was cool though, that Claudia Black's in it for a short time.

 

I have been trying to rent this movie for three days. Blockbuster has been out all week. I dont understand why they only get 10-12 copies of Riddick and a whole wall full of Garfield.

There has been at least 30 Garfields available every time I go in to the place.

/rant over

I will come back to discuss whenever I get to see it.

 

I bought my copy on tuesday and watched it. I enjoyed all the new scenes they added but I really think that it could have gone without the unrated heading. I mean I have seen R rated movies A LOT worse than that. They could have just rated it R, even then I think it barely deserved that. So yes, the violent side of me was hoping for some added blood in the knife scene on Crematoria. But the rolling head was cool. All in all I liked it.

One other thing that I was dissapointed with was there not being many bonus features. Anyway, great movie, liked it the first time and like it even more as the directors cut. btw, any word on the Keira special on Sci-Fi channel?

Forcebewitya.