Riddick - New International Poster Released!

A new international poster has been released for Vin Diesel's upcoming sci-fi movie, Riddick. The film is the third instalment in the cult Pitch Black franchise and marks Diesel's first outing as the titular anti-hero - Riddick - for almost a decade.

While Pitch Black was generally well received, it was a cult success at best, though it did spawn a sequel called The Chronicles of Riddick, which received awful reviews and bombed theatrically.

The franchise has always had immense potential, but realising such potential is not always possible, hence Riddick's near decade absence from our screens.

Which brings us to Riddick, many hope that this film will rejuvenate a franchise that never really got going by capitalising on Vin Diesel's superstar status.



This poster (see right) is very stylish and depicts the titular character crouching down in a predatory position, clutching a dagger and sporting his iconic goggles, which shield his uber-sensitive eyes from the bright light. This is a very character-driven image and it is very effective, if you are a fan of the character. After the phenomenal success of the Fast and Furious franchise, Diesel is a global sensation and realistically it will be his box-office appeal that will ultimately decide the fate of this movie.

Keeping the previous statement in mind, this poster fails to capitalise on Diesel's star-power, and this is due to the goggles that obscure his face. I am fully aware of the necessity of the goggles, especially in the bright daylight, and for that reason, the attention to detail cannot be faulted. However, Riddick is no longer an instantly recognisable character and his prominence within sci-fi communities has diminished, due in the large part to superheroes.

So, aside from being relevant to the narrative, appealing to hardcore fans and being visually impressive, there is very limited information for those unfamiliar with the character. In my opinion, an accompanying image set at night would be hugely beneficial as the goggles could be removed and it would present an opportunity to capitalise on star-power within an appealing character poster. Promotional photos set at night have previously been released and it is still faithful to the franchise.

There is little else on offer in this poster aside from an excellent tagline - Survival Is His Revenge - which perfectly sums up the tone of the movie, but only to those familiar with the franchise, and how many of those fans will return? The same can be said for the strong attention to detail, it is admirable to appeal to the loyal fan-base, but that is unlikely to be enough to propel the film towards worthwhile success.

The film's opening weekend box-office performance will be key to the success of this movie as it may be entirely dependent on positive word of mouth, which will only come into effect if it is able to expand beyond it's core demographic.

Here's a brief synopsis:

Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick's past.

Riddick is due for release in the UK on 4th September and in the US on 6th September 2013. The film also stars Karl Urban and Katee Sackhoff.