As reported last month, the latest installment of the ‘Riddick’ franchise has had cash flow problems, but the cash seems to be flowing again. According to TMZ, Michel Trudel has been paid. Michel Trudel owns the Montreal studio where the movie is being filmed. Since the production company has settled the bills with Trudel, the owner will unlock the studio and allow the production back in.
Although Trudel has been paid, many of the crew members have yet to be paid. Vin Diesel’s production company, One Race Films, claims that crew members will be paid soon.
Vin Diesel, One Race Films, and Universal Studios (the studio financing and distributing the film) have been very quiet about the financial issues surrounding the ‘Riddick’ film. On his Facebook page, Vin Diesel latest post was on November 10. The post is a picture of him and says, “All love…P.s. I have a good feeling about this winter.” Many have speculated that the “good feeling” Diesel has about this winter refers to getting back to work on the ‘Riddick’ film, which may be true because reports state that production will resume December 28.
Vin Diesel and One Race Films remaining quiet about this issue has been a smart move. Studios do not like admitting they have money issues, and they never appreciate it when people take financial problems and disputes to the public. Handling this issue behind closed doors probably helped save the project.
There have been different reports about the title of the film. ‘The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking,’ ‘The Final Stand of Riddick,’ and ‘Riddick’ have been mentioned as possible titles of the film. However, IMDb.com has no official title for the film. The film also does not have an official release date. The film is expected to be released sometime in 2013.
