Vin Diesel made it big in Hollywood with his iconic Fast & Furious franchise and with projects like XXX, Saving Private Ryan, and The Pacifier. The Dominic Toretto fame has also been an active part of the MCU with his voice role as the Groot and as the titular lead in The Chronicles of Riddick franchise. But while the former earned him monstrous amounts, he almost lost his house because of the latter.
The Chronicles of Riddick is a sci-fi franchise starring Vin Diesel as the antihero Richard B. Riddick. It can’t be said that the franchise is a huge name similar to many others in recent times, but still, it is quite an active franchise to date.
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How did a box office failure almost cost Vin Diesel his home?
The Chronicles of Riddick franchise comprises three feature films titled Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, and Riddick, along with an animated short film, video games, and comics. While the franchise maintained its progress, it is notable to mention that it was never quite a major commercial or critical success.
When the third installment of the franchise was released in 2013, Vin Diesel revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he almost lost his house in the course of the movie. Riddick lacked funding from any major studio, which led to many obstacles during the making of the film. According to Diesel, his house was one of the core motivations to finish the film.
“I had to leverage my house. If we didn’t finish the film, I would be homeless.”
The writer and director David Twohy also added how the crew was forced to finish the movie within 47 days to adjust the budget issues. One may also wonder why the sequel was made as the second installment, even after being the highest-grosser in the franchise was a box-office disappointment. But as per the Fast X star, a fan requested an R-rated movie based on the franchise which motivated him to make it happen.
“Something about that comment made me think, bless their heart, and if I can do anything with this newfound success, if I could do anything at all, I could deliver on that wish. It’s a strange and unique sense of gratification, and it’s not like any film I’ve done in the last 10 years.”
Earning a total of $98.3 million, Riddick was not something very big in the career of Vin Diesel, compared to his other projects. But an impressive collection from the DVD sales forced the directors to go for another sequel.
What is the future of The Chronicles of Riddick franchise?
Even after performing better than the second part, the threequel was not a significant hit. But the excellent DVD sales of the Vin Diesel movie co-starring Katee Sackhoff and Karl Urban forced the makers to think something about the future of the franchise.
According to reports, the upcoming addition to the franchise is titled Riddick: Furya and will feature the character’s return to his homeworld. As of now, we have scarce information about the project. The last update that was received from the movie revealed that the pre-production has moved into the stage of storyboarding. Besides the sequel, it was also reported that director David Twohy along with Vin Diesel was working on a spin-off TV show titled Merc City.
All the movies in The Chronicles of Riddick franchise can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
