By the superstitious they are called The Hood of the Devil. By those who lose contact with loved ones on distant worlds, never knowing why, their name is The Great Silence. By those who have seen the towering statues left behind on dead planets, they are simply called The End. But all can agree on this; they are a plague that now sweeps through the ever dwindling worlds of man.

Were they once men themselves? Are they still men? And do they think of themselves as part of the grand era they have devoted themselves to eradicating?

Kill the... (last part garbled)

Can this really be their faith? Hard to say. Even I - one of the few people to have ever encountered a necromonger and lived to speak of it - even I don't pretend to fathom them. Truly you must be a necromonger before you can understand the necromonger way.

Yet there's one thing we do know. One thing I calculate to be true. There is a balance to everything in the universe. The balance to necromonger is Furion.

How many Furion still exist? Where they might be found? If they could be compelled to act?

Well, these are the questions that the whole universe now hinges on. If you have answers, please seek me out. My name is Aereon.

• Sometimes up to 85 sculptors working on the show
• They spent a million dollars on spray foam
• 1500 employees
• up to 800 extras a day
• 5th largest BC Hydro customer

Not to my knowledge...certainly not at this time.

Our pal Joe says that what we're looking at is the inside of the Necromongers starship. Led by the Lord Marshal (Feore), the Necromongers warrior race have arrived at a planet called Helion and are in the midst of subjugating the population. On Helion is the ex-con Riddick (Diesel), hiding out from the bounty placed on his head. Little is known for sure of the Necromongers; there are reports that the Lord Marshal might be using the reanimated dead as warriors in his army.

The photo in question shows part of an old church that the Lord Marshal had relocated inside his command ship. We're told by Joe that some terrifying acts are committed in gruesome ceremonies inside this dark church including beheadings and self-mutilations.

• Christ Stanley: prosthetics applicator & special makeup effects artist
• Luke Freeborn: set designer
• Phil Gough: property master (second unit)
• John Sweeney: assistant property master
• John Bires: sound engineer
• Jason Bayever: associate technical lighting supervisor for Rhythm & Hues
• Tim Drnec: motion control technician
• Alexander Vegh: previsualization supervisor
• Lauro Chartrand: utility stunts
• Jason Hanmer: utility stunts
• Jeffrey C. Robinson: stunts
• Frank Cuomo: post-production coordinator
• Joseph Lederer: still photographer
• Kim Olsen: key grip
• Bob Roath: production controller
• Kristen Crabtree Roath: assistant accountant
• Douglas J. Stewart: armor painter

• His actual articles probably won't appear until closer to the movie's release next year
• The sets are the biggest he's ever seen, bigger than PLANET OF THE APES
• Keith David is returning, but is the only original castmember besides Diesel. Alexa Davolos replaced Rhiana Griffin as Jack.
• It's a 77 day shoot and they're halfway through.
• Theyre only shooting this movie now even though a trilogy is still planned.

Oy vey. The past couple of weeks have been absolutely, positively INSANE. But, it looks like it's finally slowing back down to normal - maybe (knock wood) - and I'll be approaching sanity right around the time I have to blitz out of here and head back to Vancouver for Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black 2 next week (woo-hoo!).

The rough draft of THE LIGHT-YEARS BENEATH MY FEET, the second book in the upcoming TAKEN trilogy, should be finished next week. Just in time for me to start in on the first film novelization I've done since ALIEN 3. The tentative title is RIDDICK, that the astute cinema buffs among you will recognize as the sequel to the excellent small SF film PITCH BLACK. One reason I decided to do it was because the writer-director of the original film, David Twohy, is also involved in the follow-up. The film will star Vin Diesel, who first really attracted notice as a possible screen "presence" in its well-received predecessor.

• Linus Roache: new cast member
• David Womark: exec producer
• Ve Neill: makeup effects designer
• Martin Hunter: editor

Riddick has spent the last five years on the move among the forgotten worlds on the outskirts of the galaxy, eluding mercenaries bent on collecting the price on his head. Now, the fugitive finds himself on planet Helion, home to a progressive multicultural society, which has been invaded by the Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), a zealot who targets humans for subjugation with his army of warriors known as Necromongers.

Exiled to a subterranean prison where extremes of temperature range from arctic nights to volcanic days, Riddick encounters Kyra (Alexa Davalos), the lone survivor from an earlier chapter in his life. His efforts to free himself and Kyra lead him to the Necromonger command ship, where he is pitted against the Lord Marshal in an apocalyptic battle with possibly the fate of all beings-both living and dead-hanging in the balance.