It had been quite a while since we had any word on the fourth Riddick (or fourth Pitch Black, if you'd prefer) movie, but star Vin Diesel recently shared some concept art from the long in-development sequel, and EW has now confirmed that production is officially underway.
We had assumed that the title, Furya, referred to Richard B. Riddick returning to his home planet, and thanks to some plot details, we now know that's exactly what's in store for the ultra-violent antihero.
"Riddick finally comes back to his homeworld, a place he barely remembers and one he fears might be left in ruins by the Necromonger Empire. But there he finds other Furyans fighting for their existence against a new enemy. And some of these Furyans are more like Riddick than he could ever have imagined."
"Our legion fans have demanded it for years, and now we're finally ready to honor their call-to-action with Riddick: Furya," director David Twohy said in a statement. "My collaboration with Vin and One Race has spanned 20 fruitful years, as together we've created three movies, two video games, an anime production, and motion comics for the internet. This new big-screen event will see a return to Riddick's homeworld, where we finally get to explore Riddick's genesis."
Though these movies are clearly passion projects for Diesel, it's worth noting that only 2000's Pitch Black proved to be a success - and that was at least partially down to its lower budget.
Sequel The Chronicles of Riddick poured a lot more money into VFX in an attempt to launch a new sci-fi blockbuster franchise, but the movie failed to connect with audiences or critics. 2013's Riddick (who names these bloody things?) did do slightly better, however, so perhaps there is a market for another instalment.