The Chronicles of Riddick franchise all started with Pitch Black. Perhaps a modest example of creating a cinematic universe in the age of the mega-franchise, The Chronicles of Riddick proves smart filmmaking can still have a spot at the table.
A sleeper hit, Pitch Black quickly laid the groundwork to establish Vin Diesel as the franchise's titular character. Strangely enough, the movie exists as a completely isolated episode in the Riddick saga, contributing very little to the lore or greater story of the dark anti-hero. Like so many of its predecessors, Pitch Black's tight and contained story allows it to exist on its own, while its world and characters paved the way for even grander stories to happen after. According to writer-director David Twohy, it was a purposeful decision that really paid off.
Pitch Black Was Never Meant To Start A Franchise
In a 2002 interview with Variety, Pitch Black's director David Twohy revealed that once the studio had seen what was being done with other franchises at the time, the next two movies got the green light. After initially turning down his pitch for a fairly ambitious sequel, they quickly changed their tune and took the writer-director up on the offer. Drawing comparisons to the ever-expanding franchises of Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, Twohy found the studio was eager to forge ahead with their own multi-world epic, champing at the bit to explore a three-movie installment revolving around Diesel's Riddick character.
"Vin has become a bigger star, and he and I became interested in multiple pictures," Twohy remarked when discussing the then- sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick. It's no wonder that the follow-up to hit Pitch Black, 2004's The Chronicles of Riddick dives deeper into the world and its lore, placing Riddick at the center of a dark, universe-spanning crusade. An extreme jump in tone and scope, the second installment made a Herculean effort to flesh out the troubled world of its tortured anti-hero, and in many ways over-extended itself. Once the third movie, 2013's Riddick had landed, however, the series returned to its roots of smaller-scale action and character-driven plot.
Pitch Black Is More Like A Spinoff Than A Prequel
The Chronicles of Riddick's springboard into a cinematic universe was inspired by the powerful franchising of other fictional worlds. According to Twohy, Pitch Black is to The Chronicles of Riddick as Mad Max is to The Road Warrior. With no mention of the Necromongers and only a small group of characters surviving into the sequel, Pitch Black keeps the entirety of its story as a completely self-contained episode involving the titular character, but with little connective tissue or resonance to the rest of the franchise. 2000's slick microcosm Pitch Black establishes a terse narrative that eases into the welding goggles of its hero, without overstaying its welcome or poorly baiting a sequel.
Source: Variety
