Diesel confirms plans for Chronicles of Riddick sequel

Actor Vin Diesel has announced that a sequel to the critically acclaimed Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is being developed, confirming that the game franchise will continue despite disappointing returns from the movie.

Neither publisher Vivendi nor developer Starbreeze - nor, indeed, Diesel's own game development firm, Tigon, which was also involved in the making of the game - have spoken about a sequel as yet, but Diesel confirmed its existence in an interview with a movie website.

Responding to a question about the DVD release of The Chronicles of Riddick movie, Diesel said that he believes that the film may have the same breakout potential in the home market as prequel Pitch Black did, before demonstrating how much work is being ploughed into the franchise by adding, "There's a sequel to the videogame being made."

The actor offered no clarification on whether Starbreeze and Tigon would be combining forces again or which platforms would be targeted. The original game began life on Xbox, but Vivendi plans to release it on PC and reportedly PS2 as well in light of its success; Starbreeze, meanwhile, is known to be working on next-generation technology at the moment.

The future of the Riddick franchise in the movie industry looks grim, following disappointing box office returns from the film last summer, so a continuation through videogames would be an unusual move - and one which proves that the same material doesn't necessarily work in both videogames and movies.

Asked whether he believes that the Riddick story can be continued through animation and videogames, Diesel responds positively. "That was the whole idea of having the other formats," he comments. "That was the motivating force in Tigon creating the game Escape from Butcher Bay with Starbreeze, because it would give us the opportunity to explain the back stories of Riddick."