Vin Diesel has been talking up a third Chronicles of Riddick film for nearly two years now. He let his fans know via Facebook at the end of '09 that the project had already begun location scouting and a few months later he was confirmed to be returning to star in and produce Riddick 3. David Twohy, the man behind both Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick penned the script, which is said to be true to the character, very dark and certainly worthy of a hard R-Rating.

Twohy and Diesel pitched the project to potential buyers a year ago, using footage from the previous films and video games along with concept art from the new film, which will apparently be going with the simple title of Riddick. Now comes word from Vin Diesel himself that the film is good to go and that it can begin production this summer, but with a "catch."

Diesel went straight to Facebook with the latest Riddick 3 update, explaining that they can shoot the project this summer but that because of financial reasons, he'll have to take a pay cut of sorts. As a dedicated supporter and the backbone of the Riddick franchise, having a hand in every related project, even producing and voicing the character for the video games, developed by his own video game production company, Tigon Studios, that's not going to stop the film from happening.

Here's the post Diesel put up on May 24th which has 30,000+ "Likes" at the time of this posting:

GRRRR..

D T the writer/director just landed in New York with the good news. We can start filming this summer. However, there is a catch... in order for us to make a true R rated film, I must work for scale upfront. Not unlike the "Find me Guilty" experience (which I wouldn't have changed for the world)...

Money is always second to art, integrity and spirit... but the real issue is deeper. Can I suspend my life, to momentarily venture to that dark place... called Riddick.

Now, I need to hear from Our collective... you.

Wisdom and clarity appreciated.

Clearly on the lookout for some love for working under these conditions, he followed up with another message after reading some of the many responses from fans (which has 73,000+ "likes"):

I have read so many interesting and intelligent responses to today’s post.

You all have such great insight… I truly love Our page.

Thank you again for taking the time to weigh in.

P.s. I am off to another meeting with David, the director of Riddick… to see concept art and discuss the potential schedule.

C'mon Vin, we know you want to make this movie as much as we want you to make it.

As for the story of the film, Riddick will be more reminiscent of Pitch Black in that it'll take a back-to-basics, more focused approach with Riddick fighting for survival on his own on a desolate and dangerous planet. How does he end up in this situation after becoming the leader of the Necromongers? The Necromonger army turn on him, abandoning him on a planet loaded with dangerous creatures including “trisons” (three-legged bisons) and “mud demons.” There will also be more bounty hunters on his tail so it'll be interesting to see if Riddick 3 will end the character's story or allow for the franchise to continue. Here's the official Riddick 3 plot synopsis:

Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick (Diesel) fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.

Coming off the incredible success of Fast Five, a film which provided an early start to 2011's summer film season, there's no better time than now for the 43 year-old actor to return to one of his other franchises.

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Source: Vin Diesel