Vin Diesel, the man who had a shot at becoming the next big action star, only to blow it with his role in The Pacifier, may be getting another shot at super-stardom. With the expected success of his return to the ridiculous Fast and Furious franchise, there are rumors that Universal Studios are gearing up for a production start date for a sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick in 2010. Unfortunately for all of us, the huge tracking numbers for Diesel’s Fast and Furious have got exec’s at Universal excited about giving Diesel’s intergalactic bad-ass another crack at the big screen. The good news? The sequel is rumored to be a departure from the whole “Fantasy epic” type story. They are going for more of a “bounty hunter/space pirate” thing. Space pirate… I’m not even gonna touch that one! You can thank the fine folks over at the IESB for sharing the “exclusive scoop” with us all. The Riddick project is said to have a capped budget of around $35 million.
I really enjoyed the character in Pitch Black, and I was immensely disappointed in The Chronicles of Riddick. However, I was impressed with the Riddick video-game in which Diesel lent his voice “talents” to. My point is, I could go either way on this. The character is cool, and I like the whole “inter-galactic bad-ass bounty hunter” thing (just stay the hell away from space pirates!). Vin Diesel though, I’m kind of getting tired of. The guy isn’t exactly a talented actor; he could be one hell of an action star but he will never be called a talented actor by anyone. He’s one dimensional. I’m okay with that, don’t get me wrong. But I’m getting kind of tired of being disappointed by him. The afore-mentioned pacifier film, in addition to the XXX movie (not porn, the triple x movie? get your mind out of the gutter!), and now a return to import racing, have slowly drained me of all the good will I had formed for him. I really don’t know what to think about all of this. I’m going to wait until the script inevitably leaks online, then I’ll make a decision on the film. If it succeeds, welcome back Vin Diesel. If it fails, you’ll be able to find Mr Diesel working as a greeter in a Los Angeles area Walmart. Vin, I’m pulling for you, but you’d better familiarize yourself with the various Sam’s Club and Great Value products. And could you tell me what isle I can find the DVD’s on?