Vin Diesel Ready for Imminent Riddick ShootThe action star calls his new trilogy a futuristic Lord of the Rings.March 11, 2003 - Vin Diesel is all charged up to become ex-convict Richard B. Riddick again in the Chronicles of Riddick science fiction opera. We were recently able to chat with the star of The Fast and the Furious and Pitch Black, and he confirmed that he's ready and eager for the shoot, which begins in about two weeks."It's so much fun," Diesel told IGN FilmForce. "It's really cool to go back to Riddick, and it's really cool to go back to Riddick when the studio's excited about doing it, making a trilogy out of that character. That's a really gratifyingly cool experience. We're going to go do this and we're going to create this huge universe. And the studio's excited about doing their kind of futuristic Lord of the Rings, and I'm excited about exploring this character's purpose in this universe and what his whole deal is."Surprisingly, one of the biggest issues Diesel has had to solve is the type of contact lenses he will wear to pull off the night-vision trick we saw in Pitch Black. The hard lenses used last time actually landed the actor in the hospital."I'm healthy at the moment. Things can change. I'm right about to go shoot The Chronicles of Riddick and there was a screen test yesterday. It was hours of them playing with my eyeballs, testing out these new contacts. [When] I did Pitch Black, we shot it in a place called Cooper Peety, which is in the outback of Australia. It was a modest production, a $20 million production, and they got these contacts out there ? and now this is in the boondocks, it's in the outback. Very dusty, there's dust in the air, and they put these contacts in my eyes. Now, I never wore contacts before. Next thing you know, I'm in the hospital and they're trying to take these contacts out. So, yesterday was like ... 'Oh, no, not the contacts.'"Filming is about to start in Vancouver, Canada; and with screen tests underway, Diesel was itching to share some secrets. He backed down at the last moment, but went on to shower some praise on Dame Judi Dench, a Riddick co-star for whom he clearly has a lot of respect.He did, however, divulge some interesting details in a separate interview with Sci Fi Wire. The Chronicles of Riddick will feature a new breed of villains known as the "necromongers." Diesel has even been doing his own research on the scientific background of the necromongers and the negative matter that will figure importantly in the three films.The first Riddick movie is slated for a June, 2004 release.

And the studio's excited about doing their kind of futuristic Lord of the Rings

Colm Feore portrays Lord Marshal, a "warrior priest who is the leader of a sect that is waging the 10th and perhaps final crusade 500 years in the future." 

Aereon, "an ambassador from the Elemental race. She is an ethereal being who helps Riddick unearth his origins."

Et plus drôle, on retrouve aussi dans le casting... Judi Dench !  

MTV talked with Vin Diesel about the "Pitch Black" sequel which he's about to begin work on shortly. Vin says "I'm ecstatic about the size and the support of the studio to really create this mythology. I go in a couple of weeks to Vancouver to start rehearsals. We'll do a month of rehearsals, and I'll go into shooting next month. Riddick is definitely not an evolved person. He's still a killer in his own right. And I think we're going to find him after he's isolated himself and become this recluse for five years. So when we see him, they are awakening Riddick". Dench's role as 'Aereon' is that of " an 'Air-Elemental' ambassador [whose] very much the mentorlike archetype in this mythology". It also seems material for further sequels will be shot with this film "I don't know if it's gonna necessarily be a 'Lord of the Rings'[-type shoot] but I do know that they've talked about doing the first one and 'chapters' of both the second one and third one [at the same time], if that makes any sense. So they'll shoot some additional scenes".

Les Chroniques II et III pourraient être tournées en même temps en cas de succès du premier.

le tournage doit debuter le 8 avril a vancouver

Urban will play Vaako, a military commander under Lord Marshal. Newton would play Dame Vaako.

Naturally, I'm embargoed from running quotes from the interview stuff from the Vancouver sets of "Chronicles of Riddick," but figured I'd mention a few things and sort out a few rumors that I'd read here and there online.-These are the largest sets I've ever seen. Larger than "Men In Black II," larger than "Planet of the Apes," larger than "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (no, that last one's not a joke - there is a MASSIVE set that was built for the finale of that pic).  -It takes place 5 years after the original "Pitch Black."-Yes, it's a trilogy. Think "Lord of the Rings" focusing on Riddick with "Pitch Black" being "The Hobbit."-Vin Diesel and Keith David are the only returning actors, though the character of "Jack" (the girl pretending to be a guy who thinks Riddick is cool) is returning, but is being played by Alexa Davalos of "Angel" fame.-It's a 77-day shoot and they're about halfway through. They're only shooting the first one at present and are aiming to have it be "stand alone," not a cliffhanger-type pic like "Reloaded" or something.-They made a conscious decision to move away from "horror film" and into "science fiction epic." All the stuff that's been online from Akiva Goldsman and David Hayter's scripts has been tossed away. Twohy is the scripter for "Chronicles of Riddick."-Vin Diesel's trailer is covered with Frazetta art and Diesel mentioned Howard's "Conan" and Frazetta as influences on this trilogy.This hits next summer - late June, I believe - and will be one of two HUGE Universal releases (after "Van Helsing") so look for the entire world to erupt all around you with "Chronicles of Riddick" stuff next year (including articles by yours truly).