Riddick Sequel Kills Its Way To An R Rating
This article is more than 2 years old
Much like the first film in the series, 2000’s Pitch Black, Vin Diesel’s new Riddick movie has garnered an R rating from the Motion Pictures Association of America.
The sequel to 2004’s Chronicles of Riddick has been a long time coming. At times it felt like Diesel kept the project alive by sheer force of his own will, even when no one else in the world gave it a chance. He took a pay cut to ensure that this happens in the way he wants it to. It took forever to get started, and then once rolling, there were delays and even a full shutdown of production. Seriously, God hates this movie almost as much as Mad Max: Fury Road.
Pitch Black was a relatively low-budget affair, one that helped launch Diesel’s career of action badassery. Chronicles of Riddick is decent, but somewhat lackluster. It’s trying to do too much, to establish too much of its own mythology, and is never quite as good as it could have been.
Chronicles also drives home the point that R is the appropriate rating for these films. We’re dealing with a guy who is lauded as the greatest killer the universe has ever known. Riddick is essentially a mass-murdering psychopath, and the PG-13 rating made the movie feel watered down, and made the character come across that much less dangerous.
So far the sequel doesn’t have a release date, or a title for that matter, but Diesel has his eye on a release early next year. With a rating already in place, this goal isn’t too far fetched.
The story finds Riddick left for dead on a desolate, seemingly dead planet. Unfortunately for him, he’s not alone, and he soon finds himself engaged in a life-or-death battle against lethal alien creatures. In order to save himself, he has to alert mercenaries to come after him.
Some of the mercs who arrive are just out for a quick buck and notoriety—Riddick is the biggest bounty in the history of forever—but another has a more personal endgame. And there’s apparently a massive storm on the way, so there’s that to contend with.
David Twohy returns to direct the film, whatever the name turns out to be, and it stars Diesel, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff , Bokeem Woodbine, Jordi Molla, Dave Bautista, Raoul Trujillo, and Nolan Gerard Funk.
