Recently, I got a chance to have a quick interview with David Twohy, director and writer of "The Chronicles of Riddick", which is coming to DVD on Tuesday, November 16th. Here’s what the ambitious writer/director had to say when asked his 'five questions'...
Five Questions...with David Twohy
Recently, I got a chance to have a quick interview with David Twohy, director and writer of "The Chronicles of Riddick", which is coming to DVD on Tuesday, November 16th. Here’s what the ambitious writer/director had to say when asked his 'five questions'...
1. First off, you have a fantastic screenwriting record. How did you get started in the business?
I started out in film school. I came out of school with a film, one I had not written, but no one seemed interested, which shocked me. I ended up bar tending for about six years after that, writing spec scripts on the side. Sometimes I’d even write during down times at the bar. Eventually, after about five years, I optioned my first script, which was Warlock.
2. Did you always want to direct or did that come later?
I wanted to direct from the beginning, but I knew writing was the way "in" so I stuck with that. It was a means to an end and it paid off.
3. "Riddick" wasn’t a huge success in the U.S., critically or at the box office. Do you think the PG-13 rating had something to do with it, or was there another factor?
We knew we had to make a PG-13 film from the beginning. The studio wouldn’t give us the budget we had if we made an R rated feature, that’s just the way the system works these days. But I promised my crew that we’d make an R rated film, and cut it to PG-13, because I knew we’d always have the DVD to fall back on. The DVD will bring a whole new market to the film. "Riddick" will do significantly better on DVD than it did in theaters because the unrated version is a tougher, edgier cut than the PG-13 version.
4. The internet spouted rumors of a two and a half hour cut of "Riddick". Is this (the version coming to DVD) the cut they are referring to, or is there another cut?
Well, the first cut we had, the assembly cut, was around two and half hours. It’s not a version of the film, you’d want to see though. It’s too long and it’s full of pacing errors. But after we cut long character entrances and exits, we had a film that was around two hours and fifteen minutes. Then we cut it to suit a PG-13 rating.
5. Is there a future in store for Riddick, animated or live action, or is he going to take a rest?
Riddick is gonna take a rest for now. It took four years after "Pitch Black" to bring "Riddick" to the screen and it might take another four to do another sequel. In the mean time, we’ll keep working on new films.
Look for "The Chronicles of Riddick: Unrated" DVD Review in the coming days.
In the mean time, check out the new "Chronicles of Riddick" internet game: http://www.escapefromcrematoria.com/.
Don’t forget, we’re holding a "Riddick" DVD contest. Be sure to check out the contests page for more details.
----R. L. Shaffer