Added on May 25, 2011  James Helsby  chronicles of riddick , horror , MPAA , pitch black , riddick

Would you go see a PG13 Riddick movie? probably.

Vin Diesel has a few truely epic credits under his belt. Included in that list are Pitch Black, and I have been waiting 7 years for another sequel in the series. But will a PG13 Riddick sequel really quench my blood thirst?

Via a post on his facebook page, Diesel posed an interesting question:

GRRRR..

D T the writer/director just landed in New York with the good news. We can start filming this summer. However, there is a catch… in order for us to make a true R rated film, I must work for scale upfront. Not unlike the “Find me Guilty” experience (which I wouldn’t have changed for the world)…

Money is always second to art, integrity and spirit… but the real issue is deeper. Can I suspend my life, to momentarily venture to that dark place… called Riddick.

Now, I need to hear from Our collective… you.

Basically, the production company doesn’t want to lose money to Vin if the film is an R rated flop. So they are trying to negotiate for Diesel to be paid ‘in the rears’ based upon how successful the film is. While itself not an uncommon solution for low budget film, it is a little interesting for something like a semi-major movie series to resort to methods like this.

The catch is that if the film is toned down to PG13, they will likely pay Diesel up front for his part. If it is R, they want to pay after based on box office totals. While I don’t think Diesel should be working for free, nor do I think it is fair for him to be forced into a crappy movie. Riddick is a violent character, and seeing a toned down version of Riddick would be like watching a PG13 Die Hard (note…. it was the worst of the bunch) or a PG13 Alien vs Predator (again, worst of the bunch). Violence has it’s place, perhaps it’s that the production company is trying to target too wide an audience, rather than their specific market.

90 year old grandma’s don’t want to go see teenie bop films. 18 year old bachelors, don’t want to go see chick flicks. Yes I generalize, but I would venture that this is largely true in all demographics. Considering that the MPAA rating is an asinine rating system based off of the opinions of around 10 viewers, and dropping the F-bomb once, gets a PG13, twice get’s an R. Or that breasts in ‘fleeting view’ garner a PG13, but if that fleeting view is sexual in nature, then it is R? grr. the system is broken.

So would you go and see a PG13 Riddick film? Would you go because it is Riddick? Would you go if it was PG13, but not if it was R?

update: It’s been pointed out that I made an omission. Pitch Black was R rated, but Chronicles of Riddick only garnered a PG13 rating. Still Pitch Black was better.