Riddick Goes One-on-One with Dave Bautista

Steve Barton   |  

Feb 8, 2012

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When you have a star with the physical stature of Vin Diesel, you need to have him face off against someone bigger than he is or there are just no stakes. Well, for the next film in the Chronicles of Riddick franchise, the stakes have officially been raised to a brutish level.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dave Bautista is set to star opposite Vin Diesel in the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick 2, David Twohy’s sequel to the 2004 science-fiction film. The WWE Superstar-turned actor is playing a character named Diaz after finishing a stint on RZA’s directorial debut Man With the Iron Fists opposite Russell Crowe.

Bautista, who is said to be in “9/10ths of the film,” made his acting debut in 2006 in the independent film Relative Strangers. After starring in 2010’s Wrong Side of Town, he took on roles in the DVD-direct feature The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption and House of the Rising Sun.

Chronicles of Riddick 2 is currently shooting in Montreal, based on a script by Twohy, who wrote both the first Chronicles of Riddick and Pitch Black, where he first created the character of Riddick. The film also stars Jordi Molla, Katee Sackhoff and Karl Urban.

Synopsis:
The latest chapter of the saga that began with 2000’s hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick reunites writer/director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel (the Fast and Furious franchise). Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick, a dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy.

The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.

Riddick also sees the return of Karl Urban (Star Trek) as Vaako and introduces to the series previously announced cast member Jordi Molla as Santana, the arrogant captain of the mercenary ship; Matt Nable (Killer Elite) as Boss Johns, a man looking for answers; Katee Sackhoff (TV’s “Battlestar Galactica”) as the Nordic mercenary Dahl; and Bokeem Woodbine (upcoming Total Recall) as bounty hunter Moss. Rounding out the cast are Dave Bautista (The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption), Conrad Pla (Immortals), Raoul Trujillo (Apocalypto), Nolan Funk (TV’s “Aliens in America”) and two-time Grammy Award-nominated singer Keri Hilson.

The film will be released by Universal Pictures in the U.S., and Lionsgate is handling international sales.