When was the last time anybody knocked out an original sci-fi blockbuster franchise not derived from preexisting intellectual property? The closest qualifying contemporary examples are likely the Quiet Place series, John Krasinski’s alien invasion trilogy, and Avatar, for which the gap between the 2009 original and the 2022 sequel proved no obstacle for attaining massive box office success and critical plaudits
13 years is a long time. 20 years is even longer, 2004 being the year David Twohy ushered The Chronicles of Riddick, the sequel to his lean, mean Vin Diesel vehicle Pitch Black, released in 2000. The Chronicles of Riddick made big promises about things to come for Diesel’s roguish and rough-edged antihero. On account of a dismal box office take, that promise went unanswered. Yes, Twohy and Diesel released a sequel, Riddick, in 2013; no, that film’s back-to-basics pleasures weren’t a satisfying enough consolation prize for The Chronicles of Riddick’s cult following.
