As you can probably see from the abundance of Riddick coverage today, Universal has lifted my set visit embargo and I can finally talk about what I saw and learned on the Montreal set last year.  In addition to being able to share my thoughts, Universal has provided us with fifteen new high resolution images featuring Vin Diesel, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Jordi Molla, Bokeem Woodbine, and many more from the cast.  Hit the jump to check out the images as well as links to all my set visit coverage.

During a group interview on the set of Riddick, writer-director David Twohy explained that even though this is the third film in the franchise, you don’t need to have seen Pitch Black or The Chronicles of Riddick:

“Certainly it does play in a gratifying way as a standalone movie, but there are threads that we continue to sew into the fabric of this movie as well, that we started sewing in previous movies and will continue to sew in future movies.  It is kind of a standalone movie, but if you came to it fresh you would probably be perplexed by a couple of the beats.  But I’d rather have them interested, either perplexed and interested rather than over-explaining everything, we’re not into over-explaining our things.”

He also talked about the economic realities of Riddick and what they hope to do in future sequels, the visual effects, how this installment is “about one man surviving a planet and his only way to get off that planet is to call in the mercenaries to get a ride off that planet,” how they have a tight shooting schedule compared to the other films, the cast, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Universal Pictures has released a new trailer, images, and a debut poster for writer/director David Twohy’s Riddick.  The Chronicles of Riddick follow-up finds the titular character, played by Vin Diesel, left for dead on a deserted planet filled with predators both alien and human, as bounty hunters once again are out for Riddick’s head.  Clocking in at two and a half minutes long, this trailer shows off much more footage than the first teaser, but there’s not much revealed by way of plot.  In fact, it really looks as though one could comfortably watch Riddick without having seen the first two films in the series and be completely onboard.  With Karl Urban returning, though, one imagines there’s at least a small throughline that connects Riddick with Chronicles.  Though some of the effects are a bit spotty, if you’re a fan of the character and/or the first two films, this trailer promises that Riddick is likely right up your alley.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, poster, and images.  The film also stars Katee Sackhoff, David Bautista, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, and Nolan Gerard Funk.  Riddick opens in traditional theaters and IMAX on September 6th.

The first trailer for Riddick is now online.  It’s been a long wait for such a short teaser, but it’s got everything you crave in a Riddick movie: Vin Diesel, fearsome creatures, eyeshine in the dark and stone-cold one-liners from the titular anti-hero.  There’s not much in the way of plot (or co-stars) revealed here, but the tone is spot on.

Also starring Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff and Dave Bautista, writer/director David Twohy’s Riddick opens September 6th.  Hit the jump to watch the first trailer.

We’ve got two new images for you today from the following films:

• 2 Guns – The first image from director Baltasar Kormákur’s actioner features stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg as two undercover operatives from different branches who work together without knowing each other’s secret identities.  2 Guns opens August 16th.
• Riddick - A new image from David Twohy’s third installment in the trilogy starring Vin Diesel as the fan-favorite anti-hero.  Riddick debuts September 6th.

Hit the jump to see both new images.

We’ve got some media from two long-in-development pictures today, as follows:

• Riddick – The third film in the Riddick franchise starring Vin Diesel from writer/director David Twohy.  This new image shows off the brooding anti-hero who someone left out in the rain.  The long-awaited film, also starring Karl Urban (Dredd 3D) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), will finally land in theaters September 6th.
• Mad Max: Fury Road – The fourth film in writer/director George Miller’s post-apocalyptic action franchise.  The latest iteration features Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) as Max Rockatansky along with Charlize Theron (Prometheus) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class).  New video shows behind-the-scenes footage of the film’s crazy vehicles in action.

Hit the jump to check them out.

We’ve got a couple of release date announcements to attend to this evening.  First up, Universal Pictures has set a September 6, 2013 release date for the upcoming sequel Riddick.  Directed by David Twohy, the Chronicles of Riddick follow-up finds the titular character, played by Vin Diesel, left for dead on a deserted planet filled with predators.  In addition to the release date announcement, Universal has revealed that the sci-fi film will also be released in the IMAX format when it hits theaters.  Currently no other films are slated for that September date.

Additionally, the 2013 White House actioner not directed by Roland Emmerich—Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen—is undergoing a slight release date shift.  FilmDistrict has moved its release up to March 22, 2013 from its previous April 5th date.  Gerard Butler stars as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists attack the White House.  The film now squares off against DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods.  Emmerich’s similarly-plotted film, White House Down, stars Channing Tatum and opens in June.

Last month, we confirmed that David Twohy‘s Riddick would be getting an R-rating.  Today, Twohy has announced that he’s hard at work on post-production, and he’s released a look at the official logo as well as the first image of Karl Urban as Vaako.  Regarding the logo, this may not be the logo for the final film.  Productions usually cook up their own logo for the movie their working on, and then the studio will usually tweak it or redesign it completely so that it fits in better with the advertising materials.  As for Vaako, it looks like he won’t be able to escape the blue filter that haunted him in Chronicles of Riddick.

Hit the jump to check out the logo and image.  Riddick also stars Vin Diesel, Katee Sackhoff, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, Keri Hilson, and Bokeem Woodbine.

Though principal photography on the film has wrapped, Vin Diesel isn’t done sharing images from the sequel Riddick.  The actor is currently prepping to shoot Fast and Furious 6 this summer, but he took some time to post this new image to his Facebook page.  Last week Diesel revealed that the earliest possible release date for Riddick would be January 2013, but he added that the studio is very pleased with what it’s seeing and is already asking about further sequels.  Riddick serves as the follow-up to The Chronicles of Riddick and finds our anti-hero luring bounty-hungry mercenaries in order to escape from a planet filled with alien predators.

Hit the jump to check out the image.  Directed by David Twohy, the film also stars Katee Sackhoff, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, Keri Hilson, and Bokeem Woodbine.

Vin Diesel recently posted some updates on his Facebook page that suggest we might be seeing Riddick as early as January of next year.  Principal photography wrapped recently on Riddick, the third film in a franchise that started with Pitch Black. While Diesel was hoping to see a release in 2012, this comes as a good sign that the studio is happy with what they’re seeing.  That bodes well, not only for Riddick, but for the potential sequels if Riddick proves commercially successful.  Be sure to check out some images from set here. The extensive cast includes Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Jordi Molla, Bokeem Woodbine, David Bautista, Matt Nable, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, and Keri Hilson. Hit the jump to see what Diesel had to say.

It’s been a long way to get Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel) to his third movie, but filming has now wrapped on the series’ third installment, Riddick.  Director David Twohy made the announcement on his official website, where he also posted a photo of him posing with the actors who play the movie’s mercenaries.  The plot of the third film has Riddick luring the bounty-hungry mercs in order to escape from a planet filled with alien predators.  I like looking at this image and imagining that Twohy is playing a rookie mercenary who joined up after taking his kid to soccer practice.

Hit the jump to check out the set photo.  The film also stars Katee Sackhoff, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, Keri Hilson, and Bokeem Woodbine.

The very kind Vin Diesel has shared a couple more images from the set of Riddick. The film is the third in a series of pics that began with Pitch Black and continued with The Chronicles of Riddick. These new images show Diesel onset with director David Twohy, who wrote and directed the first two films. Battlestar Galactica vet Katee Sackhoff and Bad Boys II villain Jordi Molla join Diesel as two separate mercenaries bent on hunting down Riddick, with Karl Urban reprising his role as Lord Vaako.

Hit the jump to check out the images. The film also stars Matt Nable, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, Keri Hilson, Bokeem Woodbine and David Bautista.

In case you were somehow confused by the recent set photos Vin Diesel has been sending out, Universal Pictures has announced that principal photography has officially begun on Riddick.  The press release provides an updated synopsis and casting info.  We knew that Diesel would be joined by Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, and Jordi Molla, but now Bokeem Woodbine and David Bautista have been confirmed as cast members.  The film also stars Matt Nable, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, and Keri Hilson.

Hit the jump for the press release.

Earlier today, at the TCA Winter Press Tour, Collider got the opportunity to sit down with actress Katee Sackhoff for an exclusive interview. While she was there to promote her new A&E western crime drama Longmire, which debuts this summer, we did also get the chance to ask her about the role she recently signed on to play in the upcoming Riddick sequel with Vin Diesel, that is being directed by David Twohy.

Sackhoff talked about having grown up watching science fiction and action, what a huge fan she is of the first two movies, how excited she is “to go blow some shit up,” her crazy (and I mean crazy!) audition story, and how she’s already packed on nine pounds of muscle in training, in an attempt to compete with her co-star. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

While you probably know her as Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, Katee Sackhoff will soon have a new sci-fi franchise to add to her repertoire. We previously reported that Sackhoff was being considered for a role opposite Vin Diesel in the upcoming sci-fi flick, Riddick. It now looks as if she’s a lock as Sackhoff is reported to be in final negotiations for the role. She’ll be playing Dahl, a Nordic mercenary tasked with tracking down the titular anti-hero. Also playing the mercenary game is Jordi Molla (Blow) who will play Santana,  a leader of an eight-man crew bent on killing Riddick. Things are not looking up for our favorite Furyan.

The third installment of the franchise that started with Pitch Black and staggered with The Chronicles of Riddick was once again written and directed by David Twohy; it also stars Karl Urban reprising his role as Lord Vaako. Hit the jump for more on Riddick.