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PITCHERBLACKER.COM NEWS ARCHIVES
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July to December 2004
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TCOR on video: $90 million
Well, holy dopey planet names, Batman.... this article discussing the nuts and bolts of movies that take it from behind theatrically getting their own on video drops a pretty big bombshell, namely that TCOR has almost doubled it's domestic theatrical take on video. Say it with me... ninety million bucks. While a large chunk of that most certainly went to marketing, it still brightens the picture at least somewhat.
"For 'Riddick' we did the unrated director's cut which extended the movie by over 20 minutes and for 'Van Helsing,' we worked for over a year on the bonus features," Gaffeo said. "We resell to the audience, to the fan base. Also, the talent has been very supportive. Both Hugh Jackman and Vin Diesel did press junkets for the DVD."
With this kind of consumer response I'd think it would be insane of Universal to not follow up right quick with a Riddick DVD box set... say DARK FURY this time with an anamorphic transfer and the rest of the Chung interview/making of, TCOR with a Vin commentary/production team commentary/DTS/actual movie-related extras, and PITCH BLACK with (for God's sake!) something, ANYTHING related to them actually making the damn movie. Oh, let's think completely out of the box and add in another disk with a machinima version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY that you can just sit and watch, start to finish. And toss in a Collector's Edition with two Riddick busts, just because.
The Mercs has closed
The Mercs, aka the official fansite, has closed for good. I'll spare everyone another diatribe about delivery times, but it's important to note that if you have any of their special tailored links on your site you will have to change them now as they won't work anymore.
TCOR better
Spotted this article on a couple different sites, somewhat interesting plus it has this:
Better than many will admit: Spanglish , The Chronicles of Riddick , Hellboy , Win a Date with Tad Hamilton , Hidalgo , Alfie , Festival Express , Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle , The Last Shot , 50 First Dates .
Riddick hits the box
Without a moment to lose, Universal has sold the TV rights and TCOR will be showing up on the tube in 2005 via On Demand. Got that here.
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EFBB FAQ update
Nothing major, just cheats and editing stuff added to the BUTCHER BAY FAQ.
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EFBB fighting practice map
Well, here's a cool feature that's had a strange history. I always thought the part of ESCAPE FROM BUTHER BAY where you setup ring fights through Centurion was really cool, and figured it would have been nice to have this part of the game as a totally separate 'arena' where you could practice with the weapons outside of the game storyline. Then when the additions to the upcoming PC port started to get some press, VUG revealed that they did indeed have an arena-type thing in the game. But it never got any mention in the official list of additions, and even with the game in hand and using the unlockall cheat you still don't get it. But it's there! All you have to do once you're in-game is bring down the console and type map fight and up will come a small cross-shaped map with armed guards in two of the rooms, a handful of unarmed convicts in one other, and then every weapon available in the game in the last. Take your pick of weapon, take your pick of victim, and away you go. There's still a place for someone to use the tools to create a true arena mod, though!
BUTCHER BAY intro video tip
Y'know, us gamers will forever be forced to click past two minutes worth of advertising logos everytime we launch a game we already paid for unless we all unite and rise in bloody revolution. But until that day comes, you can at least go to your \Riddick EFBB\Content\Videos\ folder and rename (I wouldn't delete) the following files: Sbz.ogg, Tigon.ogg, universal_ntsc.ogg (or _pal, if you're non-US), logo_mixed.ogg, and vug_new.ogg so they won't play. You'll still have to click through the warning text and rating logo, haven't figured out how to get past that yet.
The pending site retirement...
Well, didn't get even the smallest bit done of the few things I want to get wrapped up before I move on, but I'm still shooting for probably sometime next week. TCOR caps, adding the editor stuff to the EFBB area, and jeez I really want to have the Universe section at least somewhat cleaned up. Time to get to work before it's, well, time to go to work.
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Happy Holidays
I'm off to try to finish wrapping, and then it's feasting and family until next week, so don't expect any updates for a few days. Everyone have a great and safe Holiday.
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BUTCHER BAY map editor released!
Guys, I can't say enough about how huge this could be for us... I ran a fansite for a fantastic game that inexplicably tanked (Clive Barker's UNDYING) but due to a small cadre of extremely dedicated enthusiasts we were busy for years thanks to the hundreds of terrific maps these guys created. The possibilities for the Riddick fan are really staggering, if luck holds. Anyway, here we go: Download the 8.2 MB Ogier installer and then the 57.7 MB BUTCHER BAY GDK installer, and get mappin'. Who's going to be the first one to recreate PITCH BLACK? Make a DARK FURY conversion? A Merc mod? Big kudos to Starbreeze for taking this step.
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Map editor tomorrow?
According to Jens, that seems to be the plan. Sweet.
BUTCHER BAY in IGN top ten
The awards continue to pour in for the game, this time from one half of the IGN Xbox editing team, placing ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY at number 6.
What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good science fiction-based game. Starbreeze and VU Games made a great title, one that blended in equal parts fighting, RPG-elements stealth, and first-person shooting into a hell of a title, one that's actually way better than the movie that follows it. Now how many games can you say that about?
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PitcherBlacker to 'go dark' early January
Figured I'd give everyone a heads up rather than spring it on you out of the blue, but I've decided to stop updating the site in a couple weeks. I'm going to get the TCOR caps done, get some info posted about the EFBB level editor, and clean up some odds and ends, but then I'm done with PitcherBlacker for a long while, maybe forever. This doesn't mean that the site is going to be erased or anything; I'm going to renew the server space for at least another year and leave everything up so people that happen to wander by will still have something to look at.
This is a pretty tough decision, as it's a fun hobby and there would still be a lot of interesting stuff to do like cover the user levels that will hopefully start popping up, do editing tutorials, cover the next game when it is announced, the DVD double-dip I still think is likely, etc. But I've been tossing things around in my head for a while and, in the end, I just don't want to be the guy that ran a Riddick site for half a decade or whatever. When I started PBer up it was mainly my way of saying, "Hey, PITCH BLACK was an unusually good movie that deserves it's own corner of active fandom." January will put me at almost three years... time enough I think that I made my point to the tens of thousands of visitors I've had. Plus it's just a lot of work to keep things updated and I need to unplug in a big way.
So thanks to everyone that's supported the site, Scott at Visionary Media and Jonelle at Universal, Kriszta at VinXPerience and all the other Vin sites, waimeawahine, Matt, Peter, and on and on. Especially the visitors! Hopefully I can find interesting updates for the next couple of weeks, and then it's off to my big plans for 2005.
More cheats
Thanks to Peter for searching around and spotting a couple of new cheats for EFBB PC. The one you'll like the most is unlockall, which when you quit to the menu will have unlocked all the, well, unlockables. This includes a couple of different trailers, lots of concept art, and tons of other stuff including a playable level that displays all the different 'fatality' type moves Riddick can do. Another good cheat is map (mapname), where you replace (mapname) with the different level names that can be found in the /content/worlds/ game directory in order to warp straight to a specific level. Still can't get cmd godmode or cmd giveall to do anything noticeable. Remember to type these into the console once you're in-game (access the console using hit cntl-alt-~).
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ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY up for 11 Gamespot awards!
Thanks to soup (the man, not the fluid) for pointing out that Gamespot has nomindated BUTCHER BAY for eleven awards. Holy shit!
- Best Original Music
- Most Surprisingly Good Game
- Best Story
- Best Sound Effects
- Best Graphics, Technical
- Best Voice Acting
- Best Game Based on a TV or Film Property
- Most Innovative Game
- Best Use of a Celebrity
- Best Original Game Mechanic
- Best Action Adventure Game
- Best Xbox Game
- Best PC Game
Cheats!
Only have one right now but I'll keep experimenting... hit cntl-alt-~ (that's a tilde on the end there) to bring down the console and then type in cmd noclip to be able to walk through walls and cmd giveall to get whatever inventory items you need (I think, and doesn't seem to work on weapons). I tried the Enclave cheat cmd godmode and cg_menu cheatmenu but it didn't work, so I'll keep experimenting.
Level editor is actually coming
Credit goes to the user with the name SamFisher on the EFBB boards for pointing out the following post on the Starbreeze Ogier help forums...
The idea was that it would be released December 7 (relase of Riddick PC in US), but I got delayed. I hope to do it during this or next week.
/Jens
Sure hope this comes to pass!
Random EFBB PC thoughts
I'm pretty sure that with all the movie and DVD stuff out now, except for a double dip it's going to mostly be game news for a long, long time. My personal thinking is tending towards it maybe being a couple years before we really know anything about a possible movie sequel. So with that in mind, on with the game-focused updates.
I've talked to at least one person that bought this game without knowing whether their computer would be able to run it, so I just wanted to say again for the record... This game is very demanding so check the required system specifications against what you have at home before you drop thirty bucks on something that doesn't even have a manual to look at. Scroll down to the December 3rd update for a complete list.
I noticed one of the unlockables in the game is a pretty long video from G4TV about the making of the game. I'm 99% sure that the Xbox version didn't have this. There's a ton of cool stuff in there, including footage of the Starbreeze guys, Cos L from Tigon, and a couple of the actors doing their voice work. In addition to Xhibit and Cole Hauser, you also get to see Kristin Lehman sans her Shirah getup, which at least to me was kind of interesting.
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ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY PC user editing confirmed!
WOW, I guess this is a PitcherBlacker exclusive... pass it along to all your favorite gaming sites. Anyway, when poking around Starbreeze's new site I found a page for something called Ogier, which turns out to be their level editor that they released with an Enclave GDK in January. And guess what... "Chronicles of Riddick GDK Installer 1.01 (Coming December 2004!)". This could really be HUGE for fans of this game, as sometimes user addons can be numerous and immense.
Another TCOR knife identified
Peter has found out the origins of another knife used in the movie, this one pulled by the Crematoria guard played by Ron Selmour right before Riddick kills him with the teacup. It's a Cold Steel Recon Tanto, and man is this thing not cheap. You can buy one for your mom at The Knife Connection or Action Direct.
Updated Starbreeze site
Possibly to celebrate their deal with Majesco that presumably means a better royalty and more than eighteen months to make their next game (it's actually to celebrate the PC version of EFBB), ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY developers Starbreeze Studios have made a tasty update to their website. Make sure not to miss the asterisk in the bottom right corner that lets you look at the weird backgrounds. Thanks to Matt for spotting this.
Twohy updates site
From the man himself comes a new quickie update on what will hopefully turn into a blog-type thing for him...
If I don't get back to your emails in the next two weeks, I've got a perfectly good excuse – I'll be sailing through the Galapagos archipelago, helping to solidify Darwin’s “theory” into fact since, apparently, a lot of America still isn't sure about that whole Scopes Trial thing that happened a few years ago in Tennessee. I'll also be reading Richard Dawkins “A River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life.” Dawkins is one of the great critical thinkers of our time, and his “Selfish Gene” is a startling book that makes you realize much of what you've been taught in life – from religion to biology -- will need some serious re -thinking. If you haven't read it, do so at once. That’s your assignment until I get back.
The Riddick font
Peter, a regular contributor on all things related to Riddick's shivs (see top update), dug deep and found out the name of the font used in the series (all the way back to PITCH BLACK). It's the bold version of "Kenyan Coffee" by Ray Larabie, and can be found (for free!) here. Thanks Peter.
Riddick busts still coming
I was starting to get a little worried that SOTA might be cancelling these, but that isn't the case. A quick email confirmation from them states that it'll be out "sometime right around Xmas... i dont have specific dates unfortunately."
GameRankings' EFBBPC page
Just like I'm typically too lazy to post all the interviews that come out at the same time, I'm also very likely going to skip the hopefully large number of hopefully glowing reviews for the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY. However, since I like to support people that have mobile versions of their sites (big PDA guy myself), GameRankings and their DEVELOPER'S CUT page get a link.
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Swingblade kits to return
Those of you that still have a hankering to own your own curved Riddick shivs so you can stand in front of the mirror and swing them around menacingly are in luck. Bobadebt, the man behind the kit, has told me that he's going to be doing another run in January. The kit will give you a lot of pay and free options, including things like mounting plaques. I've signed up for mine. Take a look at this thread that describes the project and then email the man here to help him gauge interest.
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GameSpot gives BUTCHER BAY DEVELOPER'S CUT a 9.3
Well, you gotta wonder... GameSpot just gave the PC version of BUTCHER BAY a higher score than HALF LIFE 2. I'm about 3/4 of the way through HL2 and have spent about fourty minutes screwing around with EFBBDC and think this is a really interesting development worthy of the full force of my former pro-gaming journalist brain. Once I finish EFBBDC I'm guessing it'll be impossible for me not to write a twenty page review, so stay tuned.
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The Mercs signing off; new item; lower 'prices'
Got the word in the email yesterday that The Mercs, 'official fansite', is going to be shutting down for good now that the TCOR DVD is out. As a result, they've dropped UD prices on what's remaining in the store (DARK FURY DVDS, Lord Marshal and Vaako figures, posters, and the new beanies). In addition, they've added a new item; a black TCOR beanie cap. They're only 500 UDs, and there are some people that still have thousands and thousands of UDs still, so better hit the site quick before one of those people wakes up and cleans out the store :)
Updated EFBB and TCOR FAQs
Found some time while I was avoiding the unrelentingly boring task of doing TCOR caps and updated my BUTCHER BAY and TCOR FAQs. Nothing new to any site visitors, probably, just trying to do a little housecleaning.
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EFBB PC actually exists
FINALLY found a store that had gotten their shipment in. I've only had the chance to play up to the fight with Rust, but so far this is mostly looking like a quick and dirty port (relatively speaking, since I haven't listened to the commentary or seen any of the stuff they've added). Still have pretty much all the same issues that were in the Xbox version, like weapon clipping and the same wall decorations and everything. In case anyone is wondering, this is 5 CDs with a 4.3GB install footprint. There is no manual or jewel case, just paper sleeves and a quick reference card with some ads on the back. The menus are quick, keys customizeable, there's a quicksave which really loads quickly, and fatality moves still seem pretty random :) Looks great at high-resolutions, and runs decently (for me; I've got a pretty fast rig). Remember to hit VUG's official forums if you're having technical trouble or conversely want to give some props.
Stefan Arngrim was in TCOR?
Spotted a droll interview with Stefan Arngrim (Barrie Lockridge from LAND OF THE GIANTS) where he revealed that he had a part in TCOR that was apparently cut. Here's the relevant bit:
Also, worked for a few months on 'The Chronicles of Riddick' with Vin Deisel and Judi Dench. I don't think you'll see me in this one. We never saw a script, and the trailer I saw on the web last week looked like nothing I remember shooting on, in or around, (of course, all the green screen and CGI around, I have been surprised by my surroundings more than once. I notice other actors in these settings, and I realize what a nice break I got with 'Giants' re: effects/acting experience!).
It all looked like 180mil US in re-writes and editing. But hey, writers and editors gotta eat too!
Anyway, Vin is swell guy. Nice big sets. Plenty of boom boom. Director David Twohy is....well, he's made some neat films. This isn't his interview so I won't list them, but they are good...so we can only hope for the best. I probably won't get to this one. I'll watch DVD though!
Meow!
"The rise of the spectacular as aesthetic form"
Try saying that five times fast. Spotted an essay by Daniel Du Prie with the above title that uses PITCH BLACK to discuss spectacle vs. narrarative. Seems to me he focuses on the look of the daytime scenes due to the skip-bleach process and manages to completely miss the point that this technique merely sweetens the feeling of place/setting and has very little to do with narrarative at all. Having said that, the essay is at the very least thought-provoking, although as far as SF movies go I thought PB was relatively narraratively dense. Ah well, what do I know, I'm just a fanboy. Wonder if the Wheats and Twohy would like the whole 'generic' and 'ossified' thing, heh...
Because the narrative is so generic, almost ossified in its predictability, this aesthetic focus on colour and lighting invites the spectator to treat these elements as a formal dimension in itself, on a par with if not dominating the narrative. The spectator though, who can hardly help but become conscious of the spectacular nature of the film, is then invited to treat the whole film as a spectacle – to pay particular attention to the special effects and action, which will follow once the planet and the film are plunged into darkness. The special effects mostly centre around the alien flying creatures whom the cast must survive and outwit. These, as is a familiar practice nowadays, are digitally generated, and when Vin Diesel’s character watches them, mesmerised, fly in a giant flock out of the columns which connect them with their underground homes, commenting in awe, “It’s beautiful”, it could just as well be an aesthetic response to the special effects which created the scene about which he’s talking, as it could be about the alien flock itself.
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Dylan Cole matte paintings
And yet another one of the artists that did mattes for TCOR has put up samples of his work on his site, all awesome, awesome stuff. Dylan Cole jumped on to a bunch of different art sites to display some material which is where I spotted a bunch of this information, along with the link to the TCOR stuff on his personal site. You can see from that link that he worked on the Planet UV, Furya, and Crematoria areas, all in 2D. If you click on the first image from that page, the one showing an exterior of the slam control room windows with the sunrise in the background, you can roll your mouse over the top picture that comes up to switch between the final image and the plate taken on the soundstage. Then, of course, you'll want to look at all of the other images just because they're beautiful.
Like I said, Cole hit several different sites to post larger images, details at 100%, and to answer questions. If you want to read some quick answers on the how-to for his work, then take a look at the threads at MattePainting.org, ConceptArt.org, and CGTalk.com.
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So, um... Butcher Bay PC?
Hopefully I'm the only one that can't seem to find the game in any stores, despite VUG's press release about it having 'shipped'. Maybe that means it's literally on a fucking ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Has anyone out there actually gotten this yet?
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PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY out today(ish)
Release date reporting has been a little wonky for this, but per VUG today is the big day. Those of you who held off on the Xbox version of Riddick's pre-PITCH BLACK shenanigans can now partake in the fun for 30 bucks that cost some of us $200 back in July. Have a good time and remember...
"Wanna live? Get a shiv."
IGN TCOR DVD micro site
My thumb-dick of a modem is having all the usual trouble with this Flash-heavy site but maybe it'll work for you. IGN has a little site up to promote the DVD and theoretically there is info there about backstory elements, plus an interview. Spotted this at UVDFC.
Buyin' goggles
Reel World Props is back online with their replica goggles fashioned from a PITCH BLACK prop, and they've bumped their price to $109USD. Wow!
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New EFBB PC trailer
Matt pointed out to me tonight that VUG has put up a new trailer for THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY: DEVELOPER'S CUT that apparently has him pretty excited (I'm on dialup so it'll be seven hours until I get to see it). Point your browser here to choose how you want to view it, and if you have half a brain and prefer to directly download the high-res Quicktime (15 MB), then here's a direct link. I'm pumped to pick this up tomorrow.
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New Twohy interview
Since a couple guys sent this in (thanks Cliff & Tebor) I'll post it, although I'm usually too lazy to make a million posts about all the interviews that seem to clump around each big release. It's David Twohy again, this time on IGN. Good, pretty probing questions, and kudos to them for doing something with the included images that gave me a chuckle (not to mention kudos for including PITCH BLACK screengrabs in the first place).
IGN DVD: Well what I meant is if they pass on the film, would you finish the trilogy in another way?
Twohy: But there's never a non-green light meeting at a studio. They never get together and say no. It's, 'We will green light it when the economics fall into place.' That's Universal's attitude. That could be next month or a year from next month.
IGN DVD: Would you settle on doing it for a lower budget? The first one was $20 million bucks.
Twohy: Possibly, but only if we could make it an R-rated adventure. That would be the quid pro quo.
And while I'm at it, about one million years ago Matt sent in a link to a Twohy interview on Coming Soon with a couple interesting backstory tidbits.
Question: I have a few fan boy questions in part because I'm a fan too. I read the book and have reviewed the DVD, but I was curious to find out what that dark gas like substance was that accompanies the Necromonger ships when they fly, hover, and land?
David Twohy: Necromonger weaponry is gravity based. The exhausts of their ships work in reverse thus the dark clouds that appear around their vessels. The have a way of compressing the forces of gravity and utilizing it for an energy source.
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DVD screen caps begun
Well, so far I've only gotten up to Chapter 6 capped, but at least I'm working on it... Check out movie screencaps here if you haven't already seen all of this a million times. Oh, and check out the Magical Bendy Candlestick (tm).
TCOR:EFBB:DC stuff
As if HALF LIFE 2 and a new VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE game weren't enough to completely destroy my productivity, I have to keep reminding myself that the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY is due soon. Poking around the net reveals various release dates, so I went straight to the source and it looks like 12/7 is the date VUGames is using (note that they're offering free two-day shipping with a purchase price of $30). This means you can probably pick it up at Best Buy the Saturday before, as they generally consider publisher street dates just a vague suggestion. VUG has also put up a board to discuss the PC version on their forums. No real new information as to exactly what is added to the game, other than the rather vague:
- Player controlled Riot Guard - get in and attack
- Two NEW areas packed with high-action gameplay
- New enemies including inmates with body armor and other defensive equipment
- Exclusive "Developer's Commentary" allow players to hear what the developer of the game has to say
Since the developers are Swedish, better start boning up on your language skills if you want to be able to understand the commentary. Weird that there haven't been any very in-depth previews out there... oh well, VUG should have sent me preview code, heh.
One of the VUG guys posted more hardware requirement info in the forums there, so if you're wondering if your iron can handle the fire, then take a look:
MINIMUM
- Windows® 2000 (Service Pack 4) / Windows® XP (Service Pack 1)
- Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or AMD equivalent
- 256 MB RAM
- 64 MB AGP OpenGL 1.5-compatible video card, supporting programmable shading. (ATI Radeon® 8500 or NVIDIA® GeForce™ 3 and above - except GeForce™ 4 MX)
- DirectX® 9.0 or better
- DirectX® 9-compatible sound card
- 3.7 GB hard disc space (recommend 4.4 of uncompressed disc space)
- 16x CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
- Microsoft® compatible mouse and keyboard
RECOMMENDED
- Intel® Pentium® 4 2.6 GHz or AMD® Athlon™ XP 2500+
- Windows® XP (Service Pack 1)
- 512 MB RAM
- ATI Radeon® 9700 or NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX 5900 or better.
OPTIMAL
- AMD® Athlon™ 64 or better.
- Windows® XP
- 1024 MB RAM
- NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 GT or better NVIDIA® card.
Looks like the box art has changed from all-black, too.
More props on Ebay?
I'm pretty sure I'm seeing things correctly... it appears that Premiere Props is continuing to feed new items into their page on Ebay selling TCOR props. Make sure if you're in the market for this stuff that you keep a close eye on things.
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Big prop auction on Ebay
Thanks to Lisa, who originally spotted this coming, and Matt who saw it go up. Premiere Props has put up a page on Ebay with a bunch of stuff used in the movie for sale. A lot of these close today, and remember that those prices always shoot up during the last minute or two of the auction as everyone tries to snipe it, so if you've got dough... might want to call in sick to work today. Here's the list of goods:
- Helion Army Armor Set
- Necromonger Battle Axe
- Black Robe w/ Collar & Spine
- RIDDICK 's (VIN DIESEL) Handcuffs
- Crematoria Cell Lock & Keys
- Helion's Striped Overshirt
- Black Robe w/ Collar & Spine
- Prisoner Chime Handcuffs
- Helion's Striped V-Neck Top
- Helion Army Armor Set
- Helion Man's Leather Bag
- Helion's Aged V-Neck Top
- Necromonger Battle Axe
- Leather Saddle Bags
- Black Robe w/ Collar & Spine
- Necromonger Battle Axe
- New Mecca Illuminating Coin
- Purse & Illuminating Coins
Mirrored Contacts!
Ah yes, the neverending stream of emails about getting contacts like Riddick's will stop for a while now! All thanks to Chris L., who spotted over on FXEyes that they now offered mirrored contacts (bottom row of that page, all the way to the right). Sure, there's a slight catch... they're $330, but hey these things have never been cheap.
Another Riddick knife you can get
Hearty thanks to Peter, who did some research and has found out that you can get a hold of the knife Riddick uses on his first victim at the start of the One Step, One Kill Crematoria fight.
This little gem is a United Cutlery UC1231 "Poseidon's Blade", originally designed by Kit Rae and modified by the props department as described below by Peter:
There are two additions to the knife. It's not entirely stock. First, there's a section on the front of the handle that's been filled in with a gray resin filler. The color doesn't match the original handle exactly. There's one shot of Riddick with the knife where the outline of the filled in section is clearly visible. Second, a ring was added to the end of the handle.
Here's a list of places where you can get the knife and a display board.
Buyin' goggles
Been seeing more emails recently about how to get replica goggles so I figured I'd make a post... Usually you can get them from Reel World Props, most recently for $90 a pair (molded from the PITCH BLACK ones). Right now, though, the site is down which means that the guys are building up their inventory again. Just keep hitting their site every couple of days and soon enough they should be back up. Otherwise, try Ebay... sometimes you'll see some there.
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CVG EFBB PC preview
Computer and Video Games has put up a two-page preview of the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY, pretty general stuff, along with six new screenshots.
Brian Murray's official site
For those of you interested in the man behind the franchise websites who also has done illustration work on both movies, then trot on over to MurrayStudios.com. There you'll find... well, not much related to the PB films, actually, other than two images from PB. But there is a lot of info from Murray's other work.
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Back next week
It's like I thought... two days in the Grand Canyon followed by two days business trip followed by four days Thanksgiving trip means no time for the site. Updates to resume next week.
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DavidTwohy.com update
Didn't know this site even existed, but thanks to Kriszta's eagle eyes, now I do. Take a spin through DavidTwohy.com and you'll find interesting things like updates about his trip to Paris, stills from the filming of TCOR and BELOW, and even a 'sizzle reel' (right click, Save Target As, or go to his site for streaming... 33MB QT) of raw TCOR footage that was originally sent to Universal to show how filming was going.
Well, that promise of updating “every two or three weeks” didn’t pan out, did it? Just been busy putting the final touches on the Director’s Cut of RIDDICK while finishing up the new scripts.
Took my vacation in Paris where I staged a surprise birthday party for my wife on the Eiffel Tower – a truly special night that a lot of us will never forget. If any of you get the chance to dine at the Jules Verne restaurant, do it. The next night, a lovely balmy eve, the whole gang took a dinner cruise on the River Seine, motoring slowly under all the great bridges of Paris, including the memorable Alexander III. Anyway, it was hard to turn my attention back to work after that. You understand.
The Director’s Cut of RIDDICK is shipping right now, and I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Universal left me alone during the editing – after this one caveat: “No more visual effects!” Translation: “Don’t spend more money!” Unfortunately, I really wanted to reinclude the Shiráh character (played by Kristen Lehman), and she was always a visual effect. Rhythm and Hues was good enough to comp these shots gratis for me, and that’s how I managed to reinstate this important character – Riddick’s muse – back into the movie.
Some of you who haven’t been scared off by the warning in the “Contact” section have e-mailed me over the last few months – and I must say, it’s cool to get missives from fans in Russia and Japan and Eastern Europe and elsewhere. It makes me remember the power of film. And the reach.
Next project should be set up shortly. You’ll be the second to know.
DT
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The Mercs webgame: ESCAPE FROM CREMATORIA
So anyway, The Mercs... they updated the site with some new challenges, one of which includes a webgame that they've put together. Head on over to EscapeFromCrematoria.com and suffer.
Riddick game sequel confirmed
Well, looks like I missed how newsworthy this item was when it first appeared in the CHUD Diesel interview, but once it hit ComingSoon (same interview, btw), everyone perked up their ears. Here you go:
There’s a sequel to the video game being made.
Hooray! Thanks to Cliff for the link on IGN that started this all off.
TCOR sells 1.5M DVDs on day one
Well, it looks like every one of the 1.5 million visitors I get each day went out and bought a copy of THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK, as the word is that that's the count for day one. There's an interesting thread over at VX analyzing this number, which is a million less disks than VAN HELSING.
Twohy interview at VX
Vin megasite VinXperience has a great Twohy interview up where the director talks turkey about his next project, details regarding another Riddick movie, and even... the 'B'.
Q: What is Riddick's full name?
A: It's Richard B. Riddick.
Q: What's the B for?
A: We don't know yet. We have not defined what the B stands for. But maybe we'll have a contest and figure it out.
Twohy is just being shy, of course... obviously the 'B' stands for 'BruceL'!
Gamespot EFBB PC hands-on(?)
Supposedly this is a hands-on preview, but it comes off as hopelessly generic to me and doesn't go into the stuff allegedly added for the Developer's Cut at all. Disappointing. However, they do have some recent screenshots that are big and tasty, so dig around a bit and you'll find 'um. Thanks to July for the link.
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What's up with BruceL/PBer
So, some of you may have noticed a little site downtime and no replies to your emails... after the stupendous amount of effort it took to get the DVD review and Twohy interview done (coincidentally firmly cementing the fact that I simply cannot return to freelancing with my life the way it is right now, rats), followed by a full weekend of chasing kids while the missus was shopping, followed by being out of town for business Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by many hours of trying to get HALF LIFE 2 to install, I just couldn't get to anything PBer related. Helpfully, I now have HL2 installed and running, will be spending Saturday and Sunday *in* the Grand Canyon, will be hitting the road for biz again Monday and Tuesday, and then out of town Thurs-Sun for Thanksgiving. In other words, any answered emails or site updates over the next ten days should be considered the result of some kind of superhuman effort on my part :)
I did want to make sure to get to one important thing, though: THANKS for all the great feedback emails I've been getting. I loves me the feedback, and it really seems like people have been enjoying the articles, which is great. Now, about those replies...
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TCOR DVD out today
In case you've been serving a double life sentence in a triple-max slam and haven't had the chance to catch the news, today is the day that THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is released on DVD. Sure, buying one for yourself and each member of your family will help push up sales and possibly improve the chances of a sequel. But really, if you liked the movie then it'll just be a good addition to your collection. Hell, if you didn't like the movie then at least consider a rental of the Unrated director's cut, as it makes some really important and fundamental changes.
Since Universal was nice enough to give PitcherBlacker the royal treatment recently, make sure you check out my detailed review of the Unrated DVD, only possible because they sent me the disk early, and my conversation with David Twohy (plus here are some shots of Twohy from the junket). Have fun with the DVD.
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PitcherBlacker Interview: David Twohy
I was really fortunate to get on the phone with David Twohy this past Friday and shoot a couple of quick questions his way about things like the Unrated version of the movie on the new DVD, cutting Kristin Lehman, and more. I avoided the usual stuff like questions about a possible sequel, etc, because all the other media outlets asked him those. You can read a transcription of that conversation here.
Just a reminder: PBer DVD review
Traffic always seems to have a spike on Monday, so I'm guessing a lot of people don't hit the site until they're sitting in front of their computer at work. If this is the case with you, then make sure you check out the review I did of the TCOR DVD. If you read the whole thing and look at each screencap, that aughta get you through the first part of your day to your first lunch break. If not, then hit this thread on CHUD's boards and scroll down to where wadew1 spotted more changes in the Unrated cut, in addition to what I put in the review, along with a hilarious screencap confirming the Frigido System thing.
CHUD Vin Diesel interview
The gang at CHUD.com got a chance to sneak Vin Diesel out of his apartment where he's bulking up his method for FIND ME GUILTY, the film he's shooting for Sidney Lumet, in order to discuss the Riddick franchise. It's great to see Diesel acknowledge the idea that maybe another Riddick movie doesn't have to be $100+ million...
Q: How much of the future of the films rests on this DVD release?
Diesel: That depends on who you ask. If you ask anybody else in the world, they’ll say one thing, but if you ask me – we made Pitch Black for 20 million dollars. To me I think you could continue this character regardless of the film budget. So will the next film be a PG, hundred and something million dollar movie? I don’t know. Could the next film be, by virtue of the fact that it takes place in the Underverse, which is obviously going to be a lot more gruesome than New Mecca, the sequel to this would be rated R. We would return to the rated R fashion that Pitch Black was filmed in.
Best Buy TCOR DVD bonus disk and trailer
Well, assuming their doors aren't locked by the law after the HALF LIFE 2 street-date-breaking fiasco this weekend, Best Buy will be offering up an exclusive bonus DVD when you purchase the TCOR DVD tomorrow. Check out the details here, which includes the following: "Keep What You Kill." "Riddick Rises." "Creating New Meccal," and an interactive production calendar. Note that this applies only to the Unrated version, and supplies are probably pretty limited. Follow the link above to either a streaming or downloadable trailer for the "Keep what you kill" featurette.
Now Playing talks RIDDICK 2 with Twohy
Now Playing Magazine interviewed David Twohy where he talked about a possible sequel. His pretty logical response was that "many eyes are watching this DVD release very closely." Naturally, if the DVD flies off the shelves and refills the Universal coffers, then they know the successes of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY and the PITCH BLACK DVD rerelease weren't flukes and that the public still wants more Riddick. Thanks to Matt for the link.
SciFi talks to Shirah
Sure she got cut completely from the theatrical release of the movie, but at least she has returned in the new Unrated cut DVD. SciFi talked to Kristin Lehman, the actress who played Shirah in TCOR and EFBB, about getting cut.
I really loved playing Shirah, but I trusted David when he told me the reasons my character had to go."
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PitcherBlacker TCOR Unrated DVD review
I had a chance to spend a few weeks digging into the Unrated Director's Cut version of the TCOR DVD that will be released next Tuesday, and have put up a pretty extensive analysis of the extras and new version of the movie. This article is broken up into six pages, and those of you wanting to avoid spoilers about all the new goodies should stick to the first and last (Part I and Part IV). Enjoy.
It would help to shoot me an email if you spot a bad link, messed up image, or whatever.
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Post-interview
Well, despite timing and hardware issues, the interview went off without a hitch and I've got my recording so the transcript will be exact. Well, 'without a hitch' if you don't consider the fact that I sort of made fun of the original name Twohy was considering for the sequel to PITCH BLACK... You can read about it Monday.
TCOR DVD Review to go live Saturday morning
Well, I'm done. My 8000 word analysis of the DVD, the extras, and the changes in the Unrated version of THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK is written and even mostly formatted. The biggest problem is that the 104 screencaps that are dispersed throughout the article aren't enough, so I need to grab more, plug those in, and then make sure it all works when posted.
Despite what promises to be a grueling day at work, I'd pull a late night and get the piece done anyway except for one thing... I'll be talking to David Twohy tomorrow today. Look for that interview Monday a.m., with regular news updates resuming then too.
See ya Saturday.
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Riddick Props for sale at Universal
Still writing (5K words and counting), but this was too cool to pass up. Through Sunday, Universal is selling props on Stage 28, including TCOR stuff. Link.
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Forward, March
Just a quick note that news posts will be going on hold until I get this DVD review completed, as I simply don't have enough time in the day to work on both and get either done well or in a timely fashion. Keep sending those emails, they're very helpful, and it'll all get infodumped once I can get the article posted.
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EFBB PC specs and added feature list
Alright, Matt of course comes through with some new details for the PC port of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY. This has me a little worred because there's no mention of the arena feature, but I'll just hope it's one of the two new areas that are, um, 'packed with high-action gameplay.'
NEW FEATURES FOR PC:
- Player controlled Riot Guard - get in and attack
- Two NEW areas packed with high-action gameplay
- New enemies including inmates with body armor and other defensive equipment
- Exclusive "Developer's Commentary" allow players to hear what the developer of the game has to say
And the MINIMUM requirements are as follows:
Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP * Intel® Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or AMD equivalent * 256 MB RAM * 64 MB AGP DirectX® 9-compatible video card (ATI Radeon® 8500 or NVIDIA® GeForce™ 3 and above - except GeForce™ 4 MX) supporting Hardware T&L * DirectX® 9-compatible sound card * 3.2 GB of uncompressed hard disc space (recommend 4.0) * 16x CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive * Microsoft® compatible mouse and keyboard.
Robert's Riddick Costume
Big ups to Robert F who sent in this shot of him in full Richard B. regalia, bald head and everything. That's dedication!
A new still
Haha, guess who's face it is on the lid of the sarcophagus ship that is shot down by Toombs' second crew and crashes over the top of Riddick's head? And here's some more Riddick in case, y'know, any of you visitors like pictures of Vin Diesel.
Yesterday's news
Heh, wondered if my dumb ass would ever do something like this... Looks like I managed to completely overwrite yesterday's news items. Anyone have PBer cached (probably overwritten now that you're here again) or remember what I updated with, heh?
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Election Day in the US
No real updates today as I have to leave early to vote and then help prepare for an auto da-fe` for all these vote-surpressing criminals that are infesting this country. I plan on having a tense day today and an elated and on-topic one tomorrow, so tune back then.
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Urzo Giganticus
Keith M-f'ing David is all you get today, I'm running late. Hey, anyone remember those two pages of the TCOR script I posted up a while back that talked about the original confrontation on the ice planet between Riddick and Toombs' Mercs, where the ice creatures (seen in ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY) were mentioned? Well, you get to see one on the DVD (although it's not cut back into the movie or anything). I'll post a shot in my review (coming soon) so stay tuned.
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Did I mention...
There are three restored dream sequences in the Unrated Version? Here's a shot of Shirah in one of the restored scenes, played by Kristin Lehman from Canada. Click the thumbnail for a larger image.
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Karl Urban puts it best
Watching the Crematoria fight scene again, this time with the commentary on, and caught the following quote from Karl Urban which really sums up the benefit of the Unrated Version:
It's a lot more clear in this version, what actually happens in there.
He was referring at that one point to a very small but important addition, where right before Riddick is sent flying by Vaako's gravity gun he pulls up a Necromonger he had just diced and uses him to block the force of the blast. That wasn't in the theatrical version, of course, just the gun blast and him flying which had always bugged me because it made him seem uncharacteristically invulnerable. Anyway, Urban's quote really refers to the many instances of additions that clear up a lot of these kind of confusing moments. Not all of them, unfortunately :).
Send pictures of your costumes!
Oh come on, I sure hope SOMEBODY is dressing up as Riddick or one of the other characters tomorrow night. If so, send pictures in to me and I'll post them up on the site!
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Still workin'...
Still digging into the DVD for a review. Watched it last night with notepad in hand and spotted over thirty different places in the movie where things have been changed, either small additions of footage or massive additions or dialogue changes or dialogue removal (!) or complete reworking of every part of a scene. Anyway, here are more new stills, including one that is on the DVD box (Irgun and Riddick). It's kind of funny... this image features an incomplete effect (it was most likely taken during the actual shooting rather than pulled off the finished film, so the effects guys hadn't touched it yet) which you can see on the box if you look closely. Can you spot what I'm talking about?
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Upcoming goodies
Well, pretty soon I'm going to have an interesting review for you all: take a look at the new toy I just got in the mail yesterday. Just like our favorite Merc who's got two mornings every day.... guess I'm just born lucky.
How about some huge new stills from the studio to tide you over while I'm watching and writing? Click the images below for larger versions.
Oh, and I have five words that will define the reason that people will want the Unrated (Widescreen) Director's Cut:
TOTALLY REDONE CREMATORIA FIGHT SCENE.
It rocks.
New EFBB PC screens
Ah, the dark goings-on at Butcher Bay in high resolution glory... how'd we get so lucky? New screenshots from the PC version of the Billboard Digital Award nominated game have appeared at Action Trip, including a POV shot of Riddick piloting one of the new toys available in the port.
Update on Riddick bust, and ships.
Got the confirmation from SOTA that they have indeed cancelled the resin statues of the Riddick ships, but the good news is that the bust is coming although it seems that it has been pushed back a bit to come out next month.
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Dark Hoffman's mattes
I'm loving all these guys who're putting up samples of their work from TCOR or EFBB up on their sites, in case you didn't notice. The latest that I spotted is the site of Dark Hoffman, who appears to have mostly worked on the nighttime New Mecca stuff while with Hammerhead.
Update on second game post
Yesterday I posted about an item on Counting Down about a second Riddick game. Well, Matt got with the person who posted it up, and it looks like it's likely that the news, which came from Game Informer mag, is probably just a collection of GI's rumor stuff. Time will tell, although a second game in some form certainly seems likely.
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Riddick up for Billboard's 1st awards
Congratulations to the gang at Starbreeze, Tigon, VU Games, and really also Vin, Twohy, and the Wheat brothers, as ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY is up for a "Best Character In A Game" award in Billboard's upcoming First Annual Digital Entertainment Awards. Presumably the character in question is Riddick not Hoxie (maybe Hox will get a nod if The Advocate ever puts together an awards show). Riddick's competition is Link from Legend of Zelda, the guy from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, and whoever is in True Crime: Streets of LA.
Cinefex Weekly Update on TCOR
More pixel pushing details, this one mostly about the Crematoria VTF, slam, and the Hellhounds. Has some nice stills.
"David Twohy asked for something that didn't look like a sandstorm," said Rhythm & Hues visual effects supervisor Mike Wassel, "because it isn't supposed to be dust -- it is supposed to be a 'visible thermal front.'"
John Wallin Liberto's BUTCHER BAY art
One of the art guys on ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY has put up some of the concept images he did for the game on his personal site. Some pretty sweet stuff there, including what I can only assume to be an early concept for Butcher Bay itself.
The next Riddick game?
It's Matt again, this time with the eagle eyes that spotted this post at CountingDown.com, where someone seems to have some insider info on the next Riddick game. Salient points include a subtitle ("The Underverse"), for next-gen consoles, '05-'07 timeframe, underway right now, not using the movie storyline but still bridging the gap between COR 1 and COR 2. What's this? Oh, it's a large grain of salt. Anyway, thanks Matt, and let's hope this game comes sooner than later.
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TheMercs back online
The Mercs is back up now to help promote the TCOR DVD release. Nothing has been changed or updated, but at least if you missed the boards then they're available again. Overall I'm pretty dissatisfied with the way it's run, so I don't expect to be mentioning it again or linking it anywhere.
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BUTCHER BAY PC pr and screens
Forget a playable version on display at a public event... nothing is official until the press release comes out. Screenshots accompany this pleasant event, along with mention of some sort of new arena feature (presumably I'll get credit for suggesting this a while back :P).
It will be interesting to see how the game is recieved in the PC realm. Strong characters and a focused, visceral feel may not be enough for today's PC gamer, spoiled as we are by endless interactivity and wide outdoor spaces. And you can bet on EFBB's linearity being the #1 complaint.
Anyway, this will still be cool. And fans have got to be excited by this quote from Tigon's Cos L.:
We envision The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - Developer's Cut to be the latest iteration in an ongoing franchise of games based-on and inspired by the Riddick universe.
Suite101.com TCOR editorial
Just, y'know, something to take a look at. The guy thought the movie had a lot going on between it's eyes.
"Chronicles Of Riddick" is an action flick, featuring an action hero of sort. It is a sci-fi movie, as well. But at the same time it is much more: It is a message film (the intent of which I will leave you to discern.). It is Shakespeare and Chaucer, German opera and Italian melodrama, set not to traditional music but a cacophony of effects all but overwhelming. It is a showcasing of anti-hero in the tradition of Mad Max but, yet, it is, well something else: Clever. Intelligent. Smart. Sophisticated.
Slow week
Well, couldn't find much stuff to post on this week & didn't hear from anyone about the Universe section changes, so I figured it'd be a good time to dig into my replay of DEUS EX (best game evar?) instead of putting time into PBer.
Official news will most likely continue to be pretty light since the DVD and game port are still a ways out. After that I figure we can expect another Riddick game, a TCOR DVD double dip, and then... probably not much else. This slowdown should free me up to get back to working on site content, with most news posts referring to that activity, so plan your visits accordingly.
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Another BUTCHER BAY PC hands-on
Another quick hands-on preview at my former freelance employer GameSpy, taken from Vivendi's World Cyber Games event. Seems pretty positive, although the author had a bit of trouble doing the more advanced moves with keyboard/mouse in what sounds like the short time he had available to him. But he also notes that, of course, at higher resolutions the game looks great.
The biggest difference over its Xbox cousin, naturally, was the visual quality. When running on a decent machine, the game looks great. The textures look marvelous in high res, and the bump mapping effects on the environments are much more pronounced. While the Xbox version has a nice, hazy feel to it, the clearer picture provided by the higher resolutions are much welcome, and give them world a much more cohesive look.
Spotted at VX.
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BUTCHER BAY PC hands-on
Well, there you have it, it definitely exists. IGN has put up a hands-on preview of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY for the PC, so take a quick gander. No new screens, but just imaging the old 640x480 Xbox screens at many multiples of resolution.
Aside from the extra unlockables and cigarette packs that can be found throughout the course of the game, there will be some more surprises. Unfortunately the representative for the game was under orders to keep those special things under wraps. I guess the season of giving hasn't quite arrived yet...
In addition to the above, the article mentions that the PC version has some new levels and models, including half-assembled riot-guards where you can still see and shoot the human inside.
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New Deal Studios PITCH BLACK images
New Deal Studios, a splinter workshop from what used to be called Hunter-Gratzner Industries, has finally got a big detailed website up and running, and it's full of cool PITCH BLACK stuff. If you poke around you'll find process shots of them shooting the crash sequence (including new images that they didn't have on the H-G site), shots of the H-G model, a photo of what appears to be the PITCH BLACK effects crew standing by the H-G model, and coolest of all... PITCH BLACK storyboards! These guys also did work on TCOR, but strangely enough don't have any images from that movie up.
 
TCOR vs. the Bush administration
Here's an interesting editorial trying to wedge this season's blockbusters into comparisons with the current American presidential administration. These guys love them some Riddick, too.
The anti-Bush culture of The Chronicles of Riddick bases itself on an anti-hero, the Dostoyevskian underground man risen once again to the surface. As writer-director David Twohy explains, Riddick's character is about an evolving spiritual awakening generated as a killer meets even worse killers. Riddick's redemption comes from his recognition that attempted masters of worlds, the Lord Masters who build and protect enslavement systems, represent a far worse evil than he could ever accomplish. His inherent, absolute refusal to capitulate to the Necromonger system protects Riddick: he is the perfect monad. Riddick is a better Achilles than Achilles, for he is fully self-reliant and bears no relationship to the state other than rejection, a scowl, and relentless antagonism if attacked. A state is only another prison to escape. His is a citizenship for self and friends in need; his Furyan powers are not for integration into any system that would exploit them. For these reasons, Riddick is the natural enemy of the Necromancer way, its incorporative technology, and its imperial project to build an all-encompassing 'Underverse.' The clash is fundamental and inevitable.
Xbox keybd/mouse w/EFBB presets
Check it out... keyboards and mice for Xboxes preset with controls for certain games, including ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY.
BOP article on sequels incl. TCOR
Well, sure they've got factual errors such as STAR WARS being "released as episode four" (it wasn't when it first came out) and PITCH BLACK being "always intended to be part of a broader canvas - an episode in the chronicles of its anti-hero Riddick" (the idea didn't come up until they were shooting), and heck they've got an image of the Riddick game in an article about movie sequels, but what the hell... take a read.
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Anyone never get their The Mercs stuff?
Got an email recently from someone who never got their pretty large order of stuff from The Mercs. If you or anyone else you know had a similar problem, drop me a line. Maybe if we make a big enough stink when they re-open, they'll [a.] put a more accurate delivery time on the order form, [b.] not smash people's stuff into too-small boxes to mail, heh, and [c.] actually mail everyone's prizes.
Riddick card collecting guide
I have no idea if this is worth anything, but it seems like a good enough idea since I'm sure a lot of card-buying Riddick fans are pretty new to the game. For five bucks you can Ebay this pdf Riddick card collecting guide from someone with 100% positive feedback rating. The guide includes:
- History of the Hobby
- Forms of Collecting
- Condition of Cards, Grade
- Professional Grading
- Collecting as an Investment
- How to Pick a Card That is Likely to Increase in Value
- A Method to Estimate How Many of a Card will Appear in e-Bay Each Week
- A Word about Purism
- Vintage
- Price Guide
Universe section feedback requested (plus an update)
I've made some small updates to the People area of this site's Universe section, mostly to ask for feedback. I want to modify this part of the site to add information related to just where in the franchise these particular elements (People, Places, and Things) come from, so I've taken my first stab at the format. Take a look and drop me a line if you think it's too hard to read. I'm going to be adding and modifying over a hundred entries, so I'd like the format locked before I start all the cutting and pasting. Anyone using this opportunity to mention that the site colors still make things too hard to read will be severely paddled. Thanks.
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Gettin' Goggles
Halloween must be approaching since the volume of emails asking about replica goggles has gone way up recently. The two sources I've heard of are both back in action, more or less, but start mowing lawns since this isn't going to be cheap. Your most reliable bet is still Reel World Props, the site that has been selling goggles molded from a PITCH BLACK prop for years now. Previously offline in order to restock, they're back up (thanks for the heads up, Elric) with a new price tag... $99 USD gets you one, or $10 off for a pair ($178 total).
Also, in between classes and work Nate tosses a pair up on Ebay whenever he gets some time. Not sure if they're still made of leather, since I haven't checked Ebay recently. Keep on the lookout.
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NIGHTFALL, 9/26/97
EXT. SPACE
Blue beams slash space. CAMERA FOLLOWS the parallel beams to a common vanishing point. There, we make out something moving. Approaching. It grows into...
The beam-rider, a starship powered by the high-energy laser beam it travels. With it's two centrifuge wings at rest, the ship reminds us of a butterfly hanging beneath a branch. Background, a comet arcs away, its million-mile tail brooming space.
INT. CRYO-LOCKER
FRESH GASSES cycle in. A read-out flickers to life, showing vitals. Arthritically, the woman reaches up to wipe away condensation, revealing a name.
FRY
"Fry." "Carolyn Fry."
Vaguely familiar. More globules dance by. One touches her viewplate and streaks red. Almost like blood.
Her HEART-RATE REVS.
Her hand snatches for a release.
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What you just read is an excerpt from the script for a movie called NIGHTFALL, dated September 9th, 1997. In this movie, beam-riders travel space, a convict named William B. Riddick has a really bad day, and giant creatures called plowheads lumber across the surface of a planet crawling with ravenous flying predators. In other words, this is an early version of what was to become PITCH BLACK, which a kind reader was kind enough to put into my hands. Neat!
LIDAR Services VFX site
Ok, I'll admit it, this news item is pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as interest. Oh well. It appears that LIDAR scans sets into a digital format, and they've got a few images on the TCOR part of their site.
PITCH BLACK concept art
I just realized that I haven't had a link up to my collection of PITCH BLACK concept art in a long time, and some of you may not have ever seen it. A couple years ago I got in touch with Tim Lawrence who did this art for Twohy from when the movie was still called NIGHTFALL, and he (Lawrence) was kind enough to send me a nice batch.
More confirmations of EFBB on PC
Still no official pr from VUG who're probably all busy with their HALF LIFE 2 lawsuit, but this YAHOO pr is the next place to mention that TCOR:EFBB-DC will be at the World Cyber Games 2004.
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Home-made Riddick bust
Interesting that I spotted this the month that the official Riddick bust will be released... A hobbyist model maker has put up a page showing the steps and final appearance of a bust he made of Riddick wrapped in the fiber optic cable from PITCH BLACK. I don't think he's selling these, so hopefully SOTA won't Fox him, heh. Check out the link above for all the details and more images.
Reel World Props gone? UPDATE: No
Updated: Thanks to Elric for pointing out that the proprietor of RWP does this occasionally... takes his site down when he's out of products, restocks, and then puts everything back online. I'll keep my eyes open and post when the site goes back up.
I've been sending people to Reel World Props for years now to get their replica Riddick goggles, and I just noticed that the site seems to be gone. If anyone knows anything about this, or has a contact email, drop me a line. Oh, and happy October!
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TCOR Unrated DVD: 14 mins + 5 mins extra
Thanks to AZSue from the UVDFC for pointing out this PRNewsWire pr giving the lowdown on the TCOR DVD and extras. Glance through it for a few new details on the features, but the most interesting thing is that the unrated version of the DVD will have 14 minutes added back into the movie and then an additional 5 minutes of deleted scenes. Still no Vin commentary, though, so if there's ever been a clear-cut indication of an impending double-dip...
ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY = "Developer's Cut"
No details are known yet about the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY, but this Eurogamer article reminded me that it's now got an additional title, namely "Developer's Cut". So, let's try this on for size... THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY: DEVELOPER'S CUT. Gonna need a bigger box. Anyway, the Eurogamer piece also sort of idly speculates as to why VUG would be showing this at an event that heavily focuses on multiplayer, but I think it's been clear for a while that mp was never a part of the design. Guess we'll just have to wait a week to know what kind of stuff will be different.
Large-size TCOR DVD cover images
I really can't remember if I've posted this up yet or not, but if you go over to DVD Answers you can see large sized images for both TCOR DVDs (is anyone out there planning on buying both the rated and unrated just to have the different covers?) along with shots of the menus.
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YEEHAH MOTHERF#@$ER, EFBB PC!
Click here, then fifth bullet point down!
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*Giant* Matte images: Christov
Earlier I had posted about some matte images done by a guy named Ron Crabb... well, it turns out he was working in conjunction with a larger effects house called Christov Effects and Design Inc. The link is for their website section for TCOR, and contains various images from the Aquila Major, Helion Day, and Helion Night Necromonger destruction sequences. The images they have on display are huge, allowing you to see the intricate detail that they created these cityscapes with. In addition, they have several different views that show how the shots are put together, either with various layers or with a combination of matte and live action footage. Totally, totally awesome.
TCOR is Boxofficeprophet's #5 Summer Disappointment
VinXperience spotted over on Boxofficeprophet that they put together a list of the summer's big disappointments, and guess what showed up as Number 5? Click the link to read the clip, but here are the other four movies:
- The Stepford Wives
- King Arthur
- Van Helsing
- The Village
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ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY PC preorder: GameStop
Still no press release from VUG, but another online etailer has put up a page to preorder the PC version of ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY, originally thought to be an Xbox exclusive. Amazon was first, and now it's GameStop. Both sites list December 7th, '04 as the release date, with a price of $29.99. The interesting thing about GameStop is that they appear to have a cover art image... could be doctored, but still. Readers are cautioned that online etailers a lot of times will make 'educated guesses' in order to harvest preorders and draw in game buyers, and in many many cases are proven totally incorrect. It's your money, but I'd wait for some sort of official announcement.
Large matte images by Ron Crabb
One of the guys who did matte paintings for TCOR has updated his site with some really great pictures of his work on Helion Prime and Aquila Major. These take the form of the overall image and then closer detail, to show just how much massive work went into these shots that ended up serving as backgrounds to the live-action stuff.
 
 
 
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Hammerhead FX posts some stills
Looks like the effects companies are starting to show off their work on TCOR (I'll be posting a couple more soon), because now Hammerhead has put up a page also. There's no real discussion of their work, just a list of credits and a bunch of smallish stills from the movie. I'm pretty sure at least one of these (Dame Vaako looking back while the Necromonger army runs around) wasn't in the actual movie. Check 'em out.
Riddick Fan Shadowboxes
Pretty sweet... one of the PitcherBlacker readers sent in these shots of their Riddick shadowboxes. Take a close look and you can see her Riddick costume card (not cheap!) and her signed Vin card (really not cheap!). Anyone else try something like this?
 
Lord Marshal promenade shot article
This is interesting as hell... an entire article devoted to a single shot from TCOR, the one seen in several trailers where Lord Marshal is walking in front of the Necromonger ships as they bow to him. Millimeter Mag put the piece together, with quotes from several of the effects guys that worked on the shot. There's also an animated gif that shows the various shot elements.
Hammerhead also used the procedural animation capabilities of Maya to create an anti-gravity effect associated with the Necromongers' ships. “There's black, warped material that's kind of the opposite of exhaust,” says Dixon. “When the ship is in motion, that black material is actually sucking into it — it's not trailing behind like normal exhaust would.”
Up and Running
Ok, this is the weekend where I get PitcherBlacker back on track. Stay tuned, since I've got some news items in the works, plus a few other odds and ends.
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Out Sick
Sorry for the lack of updates. Hopefully will resume Saturday.
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Uni VC comments on TCOR
Spotted this over on VinXperience, that the Hollywood Reporter ran a piece on Universal's movies this summer, and got a quote from Universal Pictures vice chairman Marc Shmuger about THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. Gotta click the link to see what the quote is :)
TCOR DVD preorders looking good
One of the VX readers made an interesting summary post of how the various media elements of the Riddick franchise are selling... the game, the PB DVD, etc. The most interesting thing I noticed was their link to DVD Empires list of Bestselling Pre-orders:
- 1. Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen)
- 2. Spider-Man 2: 2 Disc Special Edition (Widescreen)
- 3. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (Widescreen)
- 4. Shrek 2 (Widescreen)
- 5. Bourne Supremacy, The (Widescreen)
- 6. Chronicles Of Riddick, The: Unrated Director's Cut
- 7. Day After Tomorrow (Widescreen)
- 8. THX 1138: 2 Disc Special Edition
- 9. Star Trek: Generations - Special Collector's Edition
- 10. Bambi: Special Edition
There's got to be some pretty big significance to the fact that the TCOR Unrated disk is ahead of DAY AFTER TOMORROW, considering that movie made a massive load of money in the US b.o. Good job SEANVALEN7 on an interesting post.
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Riddick/Hellhound figures in stores
Just got the word from Andrew at SOTA Toys that their Necro-armor Riddick and Hellhound figures box set is in stores and available on their website now. Here's the statement:
RIDDICK BOXED SET NOW IN STORES! (9/7/04)
Sept. 7, 2004 - Riddick is back… and he’s brought along a friend!
SOTA Toys has released the Chronicles of Riddick Boxed Set. The set
includes Riddick in Necromonger armor and Hellhound figures, each available
in the boxed set. Each figure comes in 7” movie scale, with multiple
points of articulation and Riddick comes with accessories and weapons.
These figures are now available at the SOTA Toys website
(www.sotatoys.com), as well as through Musicland, Sam Goody, and Suncoast.
The MSRP is $24.99 US.
Those of you bummed about not being able to get the regular Riddick figure are in luck. If for some crazy reason you don't want to buy the figs directly from the gang that made 'um, then hit the PitcherBlacker figures FAQ for links to other online sources that will probably be carrying them too. Don't forget that SOTA has a 6" Riddick resin mini-bust due next month too...
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IGN post-mortem-ish BUTCHER BAY interview
IGN has put up a really long after-the-fact interview regarding ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY with Peter Wanat, the game's producer. The piece is split into two parts (Part 1 and Part 2). The interviewer also reviewed the game for IGN and digs in deep to some important issues, such as replayability and game length. This is a great back and forth, with both sides willing to admit to and discuss the faults in their 'product' (Wanat conceding to cutting a lot of features due to a short dev time and Perry to reducing the game's review score due to no multiplayer, a feature the game was never even designed to include). Way too much good stuff to quote all of it here, so I'll cut to the chase with the currently most important (and of course, unanswered) question:
IGN: Yep. So, switching over to another topic, is there any chance for a sequel?
Peter: You know, I would certainly love to work on one, but as far as announcements to that affect, you'd have to ask Mike (the public relations manager of Riddick). I mean, there is a lot of room for that in the story, and I know that everybody who worked on the game, I mean, we all loved the character, I think that if you played the game, you could see the passion that was there.
Thanks to Cliff for giving me the heads up on these articles.
Unrated DVD runtime increases
It's Matt again with the news he spotted on Universal Home Video's page for the unrated TCOR DVD that the runtime is now 2 hours, 15 minutes.
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BUTCHER BAY truly kicking ass
Color me totally surprised... I was checking out the latest Xbox charts, and EFBB is at #2! And it looks like it's been there for a while. Couple that with the game still being in the top 20 in the UK, and that thing must be selling like crazy. Definitely a promising thing to see for those of me hoping for a PC port and another Riddick game.
Official Site changes to pimp DVD
A new tasty splash screen that mirrors the DVD cover art along with a page that provides a small bit of extra detail on the bizarre list of extras has gone up on TCOR's official site. Scooped by VX.
Upcoming Cole Hauser movies
Realized today that I'd never really paid much attention to the career of my favorite PITCH BLACK actor, so here are a few fun links to prepare you to buy some tickets to the guy's next coupla movies:
- PAPARAZZI interview He's an action star, paparazzi hurt his kid, he whoops some asses. I'm there.
- THE CAVE article Deep cave diving, monsters, and Johns. You guessed it, I'm so there too.
- Stills from THE CAVE Men in wetsuits, not my thing but I'm guessing some of you are probably into that.
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Images of TCOR DVD menus
It's Diesel Driven/Vindieseldaily.net with the scoop (that I found out about from VX), presumably straight from Universal Home Video,
Custom PB predator figure images
Since this thing is so cool, I figured it was worth another post to show some of the images. I mean, c'mon, a poseable tail! Click to enlarge.
 
Commentary on Unr version only
Thanks to Kriszta from VX for pointing out something interesting... it looks like only the Unrated version of the TCOR DVD will have the audio commentary, with the PG13 versions going without. Make sure that factors into your buying decision, and keep your eyes on Universal's page for the DVDs in case there are any changes between now and when the disks hit.
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Custom PB predator figure for auction
For those of you that have a complete set of all eight SOTA Riddick figures and wishing there was a Series 2, or even for those of you that don't, here's something sweet... another custom PITCH BLACK predator figure like the one I spotted last week. Here's the word from the figure creator on what this new one is all about:
It's slightly larger than the last one, doesn't have the wrist blade, but has exposed teeth... it has a desert floor display base and is fully articulated. The head is able to move up and down as well as swivel at the neck. The tail is rubber with a wire frame so it can be posed.
Sweet!
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Final TCOR DVD extras
Matt spotted them on Universal Home Video's page:
- Deleted Scenes
- Virtual Guide to The Chronicles of Riddick
- Toombs' Chase Log
- Riddick Insider
- Visual Effects Revealed
- Riddick's Worlds
- Play the Xbox Game
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director David Twohy and Actors Karl Urban & Alexa Davalos
- DVD-ROM Features
Unbelievable... No Riddick commentary for The Chronicles Of Riddick, when Vin was the star, executive producer, and the best part of the movie. Maybe the dumbest thing I've ever heard. At least they get Twohy in there. Let's hope this includes the script.
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Rhythm & Hues' Mike Wassel article
There's an interesting article on Film and Video Magazine's site where Mike Wassel from effects house Rhythm & Hues talks about their work on the Crematoria VTF and Hellhound/waterfall shots in TCOR. Included are a couple small images, and interesting information like that the Hounds had 9000 scales.
HATCH FX posts some matte images
About a million years ago I posted up some news about HATCH FX being tapped to do some mattes for TCOR, and finally they've added some images of their work to their site. They were responsible for three segments of the movie... the Necromonger Intro (the Conquest Icon and it's effect on Aquila Major), Vaako and the Lensor discovering the Merc trail, and Riddick and the convicts running across Crematoria. Hit the link for some cool fullsize images of two of these showing completed shots along with the various elements used.
HATCH mentions TCOR in particleIllusion article
Matte painting house HATCH FX was included in a piece on some software called particleIllusion and they discuss how they applied it to TCOR:
"particleIllusion was featured in each of the three key shots we produced for "The Chronicles of Riddick" to create smoke, haze and fire effects that provided atmosphere and mood to our multi- layered composites, including the opening sequence which showcases an exploding planet," said Deak Ferrand, visual effects designer/matte painter.
TCOR at SIGGRAPH
If you're a pixel monkey and you're going to SIGGRAPH, then check this page that outlines the presentations to be given by three Rhythm & Hues guys on "Photorealistic Hair Modeling, Animation, and Rendering". I guess it's more likely that you would be a math/code monkey, but anyway...
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Cards offer the best look at Shirah
Figures that I didn't get any signature cards in the whopping four packs I got for free, but perhaps even better was the #4 "Revelation" card with the clearest look yet at what was supposed to be TCOR's third Furian, Shirah.
The BBC looks at the franchise
Spotted an interesting piece where a BBC writer sort of idly grazes the surface of what Universal did in their efforts to create the Chronicles of Riddick franchise, even trying to throw in some analysis of how George Lucas fits into the whole picture. Worth a read.
The Chronicles Of Riddick franchise can be seen as the offspring of a Lucas cultural model. Interestingly, the whole franchise is very mixed in terms of success and quality.
Looking for feedback on trading cards
With the arrival of my junk from The Mercs came several packs of the Rittenhouse Archives TCOR/PB cards, which turned out to be incredibly well done. It's got me thinking... are there any Riddick fans out there that are card collectors looking for a place to actually do some trading to get cards you might be missing? I could whip up something like a page with a person's name and contact info, the list of cards they have for trade and the list of cards they own, so you could contact them and make an offer. Or something along those lines anyway. If anyone would find this useful, then drop me a line (oh, and I've got two spare #38 "Death Wish", a #39 "Through The Ashes", and a #61 "Checklist" if you want 'em).
BUTCHER BAY section now open
I know, I know, it took my lame ass long enough to put ESCAPE FOR BUTCHER BAY on the sidebar, especially considering how much love this site has gotten from VUGames... but it's there at last. A Media page with screens and info on videos and all the rest, plus a FAQ for those needing some info.
Housecleaning
Cleaning house a bit, with the PITCH BLACK faq, cards and figures pages, and the news archive getting small facelifts. Pretty idiotic that the special codes the Mercs site gives you to put in your links makes those links worthless when their site is down. Anyway, it would help if you told me if you spot any errors.
The rest of BruceL's Merc stuff arrives
Yep, a day or so after the first batch of stuff showed up, I got the rest. So for those of you keeping track, it looks like The Mercs/Fanpimp/Special Ops Media are at the 8-11 week mark for getting the goods to people. This'll be something to remember when the site opens up again for the DVD release.
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More Riddick game rumors
Well, we've had the "PS2 port" rumor. The "PC port" rumor. And now, inevitably, the "next game" rumor has arrived. Frequent and appreciated site contributor Matt noticed a paragraph in the most recent Electronic Gaming Monthly (#183) sporting something they heard...
"Who woulda thunk it-Vin Diesel, a videogame superstar. And if what I'm hearing is correct, you're gonna be seeing a lot more of the bald one on your console. Supposedly, the publisher VU Games is planning another Chronicles of Riddick title for as early as next year, with the game acting as more of a side story than a direct sequel to Escape from Butcher Bay."
The game debuted at #5 in the UK, pretty healthy, and we all know it did decently in the States (are projected sales of 250 really all that great, though?). But without a big franchise or movie to comarket, will anyone take the risk? Time will tell. Thanks Matt!
SCORE grills Twohy a bit
The VinXPerience crew continues to impress, this time with a translated article from Score magazine that includes a good interview with Twohy. Check it out.
All of your our movies have a certain rhythm, that is perfect and operates very well. But in RIDDICK, it feels like you had to re-cut the movie and the rhythm; and the story suffers it a bit.
I did edit the movie because the first cut lasted for 3h20. Also, I did cuts to eliminate the problems of the amazing censorship. The people at MPAA do not tell you that „you have to take out this or that”, but „the movie is too intense”, because if they point to a certain scene they can be accused of censorship. That’s why they tell you that it is too „intense”, but you really make this movie to be intense. Absurd situation. You return to the editing room and do your best to satisfy all the people. That’s complicated and simple at the very same time. Now, the theatrical version of Riddick is not the director’s cut. But my version will be released on DVD and will last around 2h15.
Some of BruceL's Merc stuff arrives
Well, it took 10 weeks and not 2-4, the messenger bag broke immediately when I took it out of the box, the action figure package was crushed so a piece of the Lensor broke off, and there are still a lot of things not here yet... but I got some of the stuff.
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DNeg articles on PB & TCOR
The FX company Double Negative has posted up an interesting article on their site discussing their part in the TCOR effects. ln addition, there are five images that you can click on to get an overlay of the effect they added (well, supposedly... I can't get this to work). They've also got a similar article with pictures for their work o | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
