Vin Diesel Riddick

Vin Diesel Riddick

Cast: Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Nolan Gerard Funk
Director: David Twohy
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rated: MA15+
Running Time: 118 minutes

Synopsis: Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick's past.

Riddick
Release Date: September 12th, 2013

About the Production

The Last Furyan: Riddick Is Green-lit

In 1999, when filmmaker David Twohy cast a relatively unknown actor named Vin Diesel to play escaped convict Richard B. Riddick in 2000's intimately terrifying sci-fi film Pitch Black, neither the director nor the performer had any idea that the small movie would garner the astonishing following it has grown to enjoy since its release.

In response to that success, Vin Diesel and David Twohy again joined forces in 2004. This time, Vin Diesel not only stepped back into the role of the galaxy's most-wanted outlaw, but also took the reins as one of the film's producers. In the visually stunning second instalment, The Chronicles of Riddick, the team expanded our antihero's universe by bringing us to new worlds and introducing sentient beings, including the fanatical Necromongers"a religious sect that simply converts or kills all who oppose them.

Vin Diesel admits that the stoic, misunderstood felon has long been one of his favourite characters: 'I fell in love with the role on paper because Riddick is such a well-executed character and a true antihero." The actor believes that much of the popularity is due to the connection that fans have with Riddick. 'People identify with his plight, and that's why they gravitate toward him. They identify with being prejudged, ruled out, given up on and underestimated; those are feelings we all have at some point. The fact that Riddick is able to overcome that through action is something people welcome."

Over the past decade, the franchise has evolved to include two popular video games, as well as an anime DVD, but it's long been the desire of the two men who started the first film together to see Riddick return to the big screen. For David Twohy and Vin Diesel, whether or not they'd create a third chapter was never a question. Simply put, the champions of the first two movies demanded it. Explains David Twohy: 'We never stopped hearing the drumbeat from the fans. Of all the movies that I've done, they ask me the most about Riddick."

With more than 45 million followers on Facebook, Vin Diesel was likewise questioned by those who wanted to discover additional creatures and meet new players of the universe that the fugitive inhabits. Shares Vin Diesel: 'People wrote, -When are we going to get more Riddick? You have to make this movie.' It was comments like this that made us feel like we had to make it at all costs."

Fortunately, throughout the years, David Twohy and Vin Diesel had met regularly to ponder what should and could come next. It was during these marathon conversations that they expanded Riddick's universe and the mythologies and characters that reside within. Because the two are self-described 'fan boys," they are steeped in the intimate details of the series. As a matter of fact, they have backstories for every character that's been introduced and long envisioned what this franchise would look like in future iterations.

As few know the world of the last Furyan better than David Twohy and Vin Diesel, it proved fortuitous when the chance arose to take creative control over the franchise. Their decision to craft this third chapter as a taut, intense sci-fi thriller that hearkens back to Pitch Black while integrating the deep mythology of The Chronicles of Riddick was met by excitement from executives at Universal Pictures. In fact, the studio agreed to allow Vin Diesel's One Race Films the rights to the franchise while Universal agreed to distribute the film domestically.

The company, which Vin Diesel formed in 1995 to support his directorial debut, Multi-Facial, now has numerous divisions and produces television, film and video games. One Race"run by Riddick executive producer Samantha Vincent"had been one of the groups behind Diesel's box-office smashes Fast & Furious, Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. With One Race at the helm of production and Universal handling distribution, the long-awaited new chapter was ready to go full-steam ahead. Vin Diesel sums what drove the team: 'I owed it to the fans who are so loyal and have watched and re-watched the films over and over again."

Alongside producer Ted Field, Vin Diesel and David Twohy proposed the idea of bringing the saga back to the R-rated roots of the first film, supported by top-notch craftspersons who could bring their precise, epic vision to life. Vin Diesel explains his driving passion: 'As an artist, there is a need to have creativity without censorship. The closer you get to that -R' rating, the freer you are to tell the story without holding punches. With so much of my business being in the -PG' arena, it's nice to go unforgivingly dark."

In The Chronicles of Riddick, it was revealed to our hero that he was of Furyan blood and that a Necromonger, driven by prophecy, invaded Furya and orchestrated genocide on its people when Riddick was born. One of the themes that David Twohy and Vin Diesel wanted to explore in the next chapter was Riddick's quest to find out who he really is. 'There's another huge reason why I gravitate toward this character," says Vin Diesel. 'We all have a quest for identity to some degree. Riddick is no exception and wants to know more about where he's from."

When developing the film, David Twohy wrote a stunning and uncompromising treatment that dovetailed into a terrifying shooting script. He remembers: 'We settled on a story that was a one-world setting where we would find Riddick left for dead, and he has to battle a hostile environment to get off the planet." David Twohy deepened this theme of a vision quest by making Riddick's internal search a literal, external one. Marooned on a lost world, he is forced to search himself for who he truly is.

While David Twohy crafted the script for Riddick, Vin Diesel served as the myth-builder. 'I trust his penmanship," commends Vin Diesel. 'David Twohy is an incredible writer, and he trusts my mythology perspective. We talk about this story in relation to many stories, how they weave in and out and how they relate to one another. I know that as a fan of fantasy and of mythology, the more I can explore something, the safer I feel in that franchise."

For Vin Diesel, one of the highlights of the shooting screenplay was the epic first act, which bridges the takeover of the Necromongers to the events of today. Left for dead on an abandoned planet, Riddick struggles to stay alive and must find the man he was before becoming Lord Marshal. Riddick, through internal monologue, looks back upon how he lost his identity, and, ultimately, how he rebuilds himself. 'We were excited about this Jeremiah Johnson-like story of the opening act," states the performer. 'You seldom see this in today's movies, where you're watching what's going on with this character both internally and externally, without any dialogue."

No matter how deeply he was entrenched, David Twohy confesses that no one knows Riddick better than Vin Diesel: 'Vin Diesel owns it to such a degree that he double-checks me, making sure that the character is doing Riddick-ian things." He adds that they were pleased with where the years of laborious myth-building netted out. 'I wrote the script for the movie that I wanted to see, and I went out and shot that movie. Hopefully the result is something that is dark and visceral and eye-grabbing."

The history of collaboration between the longtime friends is one of the main reasons that an enormous project like Riddick resulted in such a smooth production. 'We were able to come home on time and on budget because David Twohy and I have such shorthand," reflects Vin Diesel. 'We've proven to each other how much we care about the property, the character and the franchise. We hit the ground running, knowing that we were up against an enormous task of making such an epic movie."

Field remains in admiration of the partnership he's witnessed since the trio began work on Pitch Black more than a decade ago: 'Vin Diesel and David Twohy play off one another so smoothly. It's rare to find a director and actor who can collaborate on every aspect of the filmmaking process and live to do it two more times. I'm proud to be a part of this third chapter, and I commend both of them for guiding it from page to screen."

Mercs and Necromongers: Assembling the Cast

Having full creative control of the property enabled the filmmakers to go not only against predictable choices, but also to take risks on undiscovered talent. Explains Vin Diesel: 'We were able to be more liberal in our casting to find the perfect actor for each role, which was not unlike Pitch Black. We were able to cast to the character, as opposed to the bankability of the name."

What interested Jordi Mollà, one of Spain's most recognisable actors, to become attached to the role of Santana"the volatile leader of the first ship of mercenaries to respond to Riddick's beacon"was exploring the backstory that could explain Santana's cruelty. It didn't hurt that, even though the film is a sci-fi thriller with creatures, it has an ensemble of performers and all of Santana's scenes are with other cast. 'This is an actor's film," offers Jordi Mollà. 'All the conflict, everything I do, is between human beings."
Vin Diesel could not have been happier with Jordi Mollà's work, commending, 'Jordi Molla's portrayal of Santana brings so much to the picture. He's our nefarious tax collector. He provides levity for the picture, and Santana is going to be a very memorable character. I can't say enough good things about Jordi Molla."

The casting of the role of Boss Johns, the leader of the second ship of mercs, was challenging because the character carried a secret: He was related to one of the characters whom Riddick bested in Pitch Black. What Boss Johns wants more than the bounty is answers, and he knows he must find Riddick alive to get them.

David Twohy discovered Matt Nable after watching an episode of an Australian television show. Recalls the writer/director: 'I was taken by the type of granite-faced stoicism this actor had. He reminded me of Charles Bronson; he had that coolness. The character of Boss Johns has pain in his background and Matt's face, especially those eyes, conveyed the pain of someone with something traumatic in his past."

For the performer, it was not just the opportunity to play this hard-as-nails character that appealed to him. It was the chance to be a part of the Riddick franchise. 'I saw Pitch Black when it came out because it was shot on the Gold Coast of Australia," recalls Matt Nable. 'It was thrilling." Once on the job, Matt Nable was impressed by Vin Diesel's dedication to the project and his fellow actors. 'Vin Diesel was so overwhelmingly passionate about this story and his character. He made it clear that he was there for everyone if they wanted to discuss any topic, their character or scenes within the film."

Katee Sackhoff is well known to television fans from her role as Captain Kara 'Starbuck" Thrace on the hugely popular series Battlestar Galactica. Much like Nable, Katee Sackhoff was a fan of the franchise even before she read the script. 'I grew up on science-fiction with my dad. In fact, the first movie my dad showed me was Predator when I was about five," Katee Sackhoff laughs. 'I love movies with strong female characters, and the Riddick series has had them the entire time."

What attracted the performer to the role of Dahl, Boss Johns' second-in-command and the sniper on the crew, was that Dahl was the 'toughest person I've ever played," reflects Katee Sackhoff. 'I was looking forward to taking all of the strengths of all the roles I've played on TV and putting them into this one character on film."

For David Twohy, Katee Sackhoff was an ideal fit for the part from the beginning. He recounts: 'Katee Sackhoff was the first person to come in the door and read for Dahl. I probably read 100 other actresses after her. But I never forgot her, even though she was the first one in. I just couldn't imagine anybody else playing Dahl."

When casting the role of Diaz, a brutal mercenary who serves as Santana's second-in-command, the filmmakers favoured former WWE star Dave Bautista, who will soon star as Drax the Destroyer in the much-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy. With his incredible timing, tight delivery and terrific sense of humour, Dave Bautista was a natural fit. The actor notes: 'I wanted to do this type of movie. Sci-fi, superheroes, that's my genre and what I love. So when I found out that they were casting Riddick, I shoved everything aside and went and auditioned. I crossed my fingers and sat there for months waiting. When I got the part, I flipped out."

Bokeem Woodbine was a performer with whom Vin Diesel had wanted to work for many years, and he was pleased to secure him for the role of highly trained soldier and mechanic Moss, also one of Boss Johns' men. Being a fan of the franchise, Woodbine was very pleased to be involved. He says: 'I've been waiting a long time to see this third instalment because the second was such a cliff-hanger. When the opportunity came along to be in the movie, I jumped at it."

David Twohy relays that the handling of Bokeem Woodbine's character is an example of how all decisions came down to Riddick's code. David Twohy explains: 'In an earlier version of the script, we had Riddick killing Moss indiscriminately. Vin Diesel reminded me that Riddick kills for one reason: because people won't stop hunting him. The way I'd structured the scene, Moss wasn't a threat to Riddick, so Vin Diesel reminded me that Riddick wouldn't kill that way. We decided to have them encounter each other and for Riddick to choose not to kill Moss at that moment…even though he's got him dead in sight."

For the role of Lockspur, the final member of Boss Johns' highly trained soldiers and a keen tracker, David Twohy chose Raoul Trujillo, known for his standout roles in such actioners as Apocalypto and Cowboys & Aliens. What made the production a wild card for the performer was that he wasn't sure who he was playing until shortly before the film commenced principal photography. Raoul Trujillo remembers: 'I got an email from David Twohy that read, -It would have been obvious to put you with the ragtag mercenaries, but you brought a bit more sophistication and poise to the read...' I was flattered that he wanted me to join the group of highly trained military mercs led by Boss Johns."

For Vin Diesel and David Twohy, it was crucial to continue to weave the mythology of the Riddick universe throughout the picture. The return of Karl Urban in his memorable role of Vaako, the Necromonger warrior from whom Riddick takes the title of Lord Marshal in the second film, will have fans of the series excited. Urban states: 'It was a privilege to be able to revisit this character and this world again."

What was interesting for Urban to discover was how Vaako has evolved since his failed attempt to assassinate the Lord Marshal in the The Chronicles of Riddick. He felt strongly that Vaako would have turned away from the materialism that had been a priority for his wife, Dame Vaako, and would have become stronger internally and more focused. Notes Urban: 'This time around, Vaako is a lot less impulsive than he was before. He's a lot shrewder and more calculating. Rather than try and figure some brutal way to dispatch Riddick, he has a formal, cunning plan."

Urban feels the reason the fans are so devoted to the series is not only David Twohy's dialogue and vivid images, but what Vin Diesel has done with his character. Says the performer: 'What I find riveting with Riddick is that Vin Diesel brings an old-school steel to the role. I've worked with a lot of leading men, but there's something undeniably street about Vin Diesel and he brings that to the role. I truly believe that comes across onscreen."

Riddick also sees the addition of new talent, such as popular R&B singer Keri Lynn Hilson. Keri Lynn Hilson came in to audition for the role of Dahl, and though the part went to Sackhoff, Twohy and Diesel were so impressed that they created a role for her. Offers David Twohy: 'You could tell there was something cool happening there, and we thought we should write a part for her in the movie. Now, I've only got 12 people on a planet. So there's not much wiggle room there. But I created this part of Santana's prisoner"the only prisoner on his ship when it arrives to find Riddick"for Keri Lynn Hilson."

Design and Locations: Capturing Riddick's World
It was crucial to Vin Diesel, David Twohy and Field that Riddick evoke the terror of the first film and provide the visually stunning elements of the second. When it came time to scouting locations, Montreal proved to be the ideal city in which they could open up Riddick's unexpected new journey. On Field: 'We were fortunate to be able to shoot in the same studios where 300 was filmed. David had created such elaborate storyboards for every sequence of this movie, and that gave the crew a significant tool to know the exact shots we wanted and kept production right on track."

When it came to a cinematographer, the filmmakers opted to bring back David Eggby, who had so masterfully served as DP on Pitch Black. 'He's a guy that I enjoyed collaborating with because we challenge each other," remarks David Twohy. 'We pushed each other to make bold choices in Pitch Black, and again I challenged him here on a technical level. I said, -We are going to create a fairly exotic-looking alien world, but I'm going to ask you to shoot it in a train depot in Montreal.'"

The team loved the visual style and the tone that David Eggby had created in Pitch Black, a bleached bypass process that gave a beautiful light to the film. Even though they wanted to bring back that film's texture and graininess, shooting on stage"with a much bigger visual effects show and many more creatures this time around"forced David Eggby and David Twohy to create a new visual style.

This first consisted of determining the light source on the planet. For David Twohy, who has a keen interest in astronomy, determining the planetary arrangement is always his starting point. In Pitch Black, David Twohy chose a binary system, a planet with two suns, which may imply an unstable planet. For Riddick, he also looked to the stars. 'I begin with real astronomy and astrophysics because that's one of my passions," he notes. 'For this film, one of the things that caught my eye was putting a brown dwarf star in the sky, which is like a very big Jupiter. I try not to get too fanciful; the universe is strange enough out there that you don't have to add strangeness to it."

Because many of Riddick's scenes take place on the exterior of the planet, David Eggby had the arduous challenge of lighting inside a studio. In addition, both he and David Twohy did not want top light, but rather chiseled, contrasting light. The solution? On a previous film, David Eggby had worked with giant reflective pieces of fabric that served as bounce sources, and he believed that concept could again be applied here. 'I knew this would be a good way to light our four stages and it would be combined into one source," shares the DP. 'You don't have multi-shadows. It's soft, and it's like one big orb. So we purchased 40 20-by20 gold lamés, which are gold material reflectors. We stretched them on the ceiling and put lights into them individually. We could flip them around for a white bounce for ambient fill, or gold, or the moon."

On each of the soundstages, production designer Joseph Nemec III built landscapes that filled the majority of the stage. David Twohy had hired Nemec for A Perfect Getaway and when he spoke about the possibility of Riddick, the Terminator 2: Judgment Day veteran expressed interest in getting back to the sci-fi genre. The team found Nemec to be an incredible collaborator, one of the critical pieces to putting this whole puzzle together.

Though Riddick required many visual effects, it was important to the production team to not have the entire film shot on green screen. Indeed, they wanted sets that could anchor the actors in their environment. After discussing with David Twohy how the two suns would affect the planet's environments, Nemec designed the various environs that Riddick and the bounty hunters would experience. Eight unique landscapes were needed, but with only four soundstages, Nemec had to carefully plan when to tear one down to build another.

The landscapes depicted different aspects of the hostile planet's terrain, from its badlands"filled with steaming sulfur pools and yellow sand that whipped about"and huge reddish rock walls with large mud pits to hoodoo rock formations and a vast, desolate savanna-like tundra. Discussing his production designer, David Twohy commends: 'Joe is a quick-change artist, and few people could have pulled off what he did."

This set was where, on one end, Nemec built a full-scale way station"at which Riddick activates a beacon"and at the other end, a full-scale spaceship. 'Most of the outdoor environments we were looking at were architecturally geological, generally more barren or monumental," says Nemec. 'The topography we chose for the look of the way station exterior is in Northern Quebec. It's called Kuujjuaq, and it's very barren with low arctic scrub and lichen-colored granite"not something people normally see."

Nemec explains what was required of his crew to create this barren tundra inside a giant soundstage: 'It took about nine truckloads of dirt and rubble to shape the ground. Then we came back and poured concrete over all of that. Then we came back again with more dirt and gravel and ground materials over the top; that began to suggest the tundra. To finish, we used a combination of Styrofoam coated with plaster, other wood structures with fiberglass and plaster rocks over the top. Finally, we gave them all the same scenic treatment to match the rocks of the Kuujjuaq area."

In order to expand Nemec's tundra landscape in the film, visual supervisor Gunnar Hansen, who had previously worked on such topographically challenging films as The Grey, traveled to Kuujjuaq to shoot plate photography. 'We were helicoptered in to an area that has probably never had a human set foot in it before; the terrain was too rough to drive through. We didn't see any wildlife at all in this stark, desolate landscape," says the VFX supervisor. For this special shoot, Hansen's team built an elaborate rig to hold the three high-resolution digital still cameras needed to capture the visuals. After stitching the images together, this gave a 180-degree point of view, a perspective one might guess would prove helpful to a Furyan relying upon eye shine…

Riddick, after he has been left for dead on the desolate planet, takes refuge in ancient burial ruins. As Nemec drew the ruins, he imagined what culture would have influenced them. 'We felt the burial ruins had to be an architectural environment," says the production designer. 'We decided to take our influence from Petra in Jordan. The idea was that in a great deteriorated mountain, some ancient civilisation would have carved out a shrine or ceremonial place that gave homage to the creatures on the planet." When researching the inner carvings and the stone that was used in Petra, the art department learned that the main colours where mainly shades of terra-cotta. Fortunately, it was a perfect complement to the palette that Nemec was working with, so he kept them.

Building Fear: Way Stations and Vehicles

At the other end of the soundstage where Nemec created the tundra set, he built a way station where the mercs were intended to take shelter when they arrived on the planet. Designed with the idea that it was dropped off a decade earlier, the way station was a flat pack station that could be reassembled by a couple of people. It was set up with everything one needs to survive on the planet for long stretches of time"a comm center, maps, kitchen, latrine, berthing area, maintenance space and a recreation area.

Once assembled, the station would be usable by research scientists, explorers and/or mercenaries on a stopover. 'It was designed to be utilitarian, somewhat military, with bits of old-school hard stuff, just in case everything fails," says Nemec. 'It was definitely not a place that one stays in for a comfortable getaway. We kept it relatively monochromatic with color accents here and there, such as yellow handrails, orange fire extinguishers and such. We wanted it to feel the effects of the elements in the environment, so we tried to let that inside in a way that affected the general patina in the way station. Everything is a bit dulled down."

Outside the way station is the location where the mercenaries' spaceships land. Again, wanting to stay away from green screen, Nemec had a fully equipped spaceship commissioned, complete with functional doors and ramps. It even used actual landing gear from a large 747 jet. Like the way station and some of the other large props, there is a certain futuristic-retro feel to the design. The spaceships were no different.

Designed to be tactical cargo ships, they were built with everything from instrumental panels and controls in the cockpit to power modules and sleeping harnesses. 'We went through a lot of permutations," recalls the production designer. 'We started out with a design that was very sleek, but we weren't finding a balance. We then looked back into some of the Necromonger warships, but we didn't feel that was right either. We wanted to stay with something that was real, yet futuristic: a ship that seemed as if it could fly, do vertical takeoffs and landings, as well as travel through space."

What many of the cast enjoyed on set was hopping on the jet hogs, the vehicles that Boss Johns' crew off-load from their ship and use to travel short distances on the planet's terrain. In keeping with the retro-futuristic theme, Nemec designed the jet hogs to be reminiscent of a chopper motorcycle, but instead of wheels, the machines hover and are powered by air turbines and jet propulsion. 'In the beginning, the idea was to go very sleek"much more of a Yamaha approach"but nothing fit with the hog world," recalls Nemec. 'We're very happy with the way the jet hogs turned out."

Alien Jackals and Mud Demons: Creatures of the Desolate Planet

In the planet upon which our hero is stranded, there are two main creatures: the alien jackal and razor-tailed mud demons. Scenes involving the creatures were shot in part with live puppets and in part with visual effects. David Twohy explains: 'In terms of creatures, I followed what I did in Pitch Black, meaning that I would do puppet pieces when the actor had to engage with, touch, pick up, duck, dodge or weave the creature. But for the most part, they're CG creatures or a combination of the two. I try not to do animatronics anymore with things that are articulated and have eye movements and mouth movements because they ultimately come up short on some level."

The alien jackal is introduced early in the film when Riddick finds it as a pup and they create a bond as it grows into a beast. Designed by Mokko Studio in Montreal, it was built by Tinsley Studio in Los Angeles. The life-size jackal puppet was made of foam rubber and fiberglass with movement mechanisms inside. Covered in shaved cowhide with neck hair from boar bristles, hackles from porcupine quills and with sharp acrylic teeth, it took three puppeteers to work the beast.

Riddick discovers that the deadly alien creatures on the planet live and thrive in water. Because the planet is mainly dry and barren, they lie dormant under the earth and may only be found in the odd watering hole. That is, until the rainy season comes, and they awake and wreak havoc. In the thriller, Riddick must pass by one of these creatures living in a giant mud hole, a scene that proved to be one of the most challenging for the puppeteers to film. Recalls puppeteer ERIC FIEDLER: 'The mudflats were one of the most difficult places we worked in because we were in mud up to our waists for about two weeks. It was sticky and hot and sweaty and bubbly."

To breathe life into the puppets, David Twohy chose to work with one of Canada's top-notch VFX shops. 'Mokko Studio is this great house that was ready to step up and do a significant 3D character animation," he says. 'They proved themselves with the jackal and the other creatures in this movie."

Production wrapped, Vin Diesel reflects upon his dream for what is arguably the most personal chapter in the epic series that the team began so long ago: 'Any artist hopes that he affects people. With this film, I just want audiences to escape for a couple hours." As for Riddick's next move? 'He just wants to go home and discover his identity. A lot of people that come out of the movie feel like it's an homage to Pitch Black, and yet, keeps the question alive: Where is Riddick from, and where is he going?"

One thing we do know for certain: It's time to once again fear the dark.

Riddick
Release Date: September 12th, 2013