You may know Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, but to a legion of sci-fi fans, the actor is most loved for his portrayal of the prison-breaking, shiny-eyed Richard B. Riddick.
Diesel has played the character in three movies – Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, and Riddick (yes, the series' naming convention is almost as confusing as the Fast and Furious movies) – and a fourth installment has long been mooted. In fact, the title Riddick 4: Furya has been floating around the internet for a few years now.
So, how are things going with the sequel? When GamesRadar+ meets Diesel to talk Fast and Furious 9, we asked the box-office record-setting behemoth for an update on both Riddick 4 and whether a follow-up to the acclaimed games in the Riddick series – Escape From Butcher Bay and Assault On Dark Athena.
"It's so funny, I was just wearing my Furyion shirt," Diesel says. "[Director] David Twohy, he wrote a great script. It's just a matter of timing when we get that opportunity to shoot that. But I believe we're shooting that in Australia. And it would be the fourth chapter in that series, which would be awesome."
He adds: "We did have great success with Escape From Butcher Bay. It feels like an eternity ago now. But, I imagine that we would take advantage of the gaming space and add an extra chapter, but definitely, the [movie's] script is already written. So it's safe to say that we are moving towards filming the fourth chapter of Riddick."
Fingers crossed that Diesel, who will be filming the sequel to F9 in January, can find some time in his busy schedule to venture to Australia for Riddick 4 – and, if not, they do finally "take advantage of the gaming space" once again.
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was, at the time of release, called "One of the boldest and most expertly designed titles of the year" by GamesRadar+, with general reviews praising the game, which acts as a prequel to Pitch Black. The sequel, Assault on Dark Athena, was not quite as well-received, though did include a full HD remake of Escape From Butcher Bay. (Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 version is not backward compatible with Xbox One and beyond. Dear reader, we have tried.)
