Trivia for
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• Judi Dench's dress was made from crushed Swarovski crystal.
  
  
• It was shipped to theatres under the name "D Shoes".
  
  
• According to the Newcastle (Australia) Herald, Australian Rhiana Griffith auditioned to reprise her role of "Jack" from Pitch Black (2000) (renamed "Kyra" for The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)). It came down to top-level auditions. Vin Diesel was behind Griffith but told her she had to "toughen up". Griffith got a trainer and learned kickboxing but only had three weeks to prepare for auditions. Alexa Davalos got the role. Griffith did give her voice to The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004) (V), the animated short which is intended to bridge the years between Pitch Black (2000) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004).
  
  
• Vin Diesel wanted Judi Dench to play Aereon, and went to great lengths to get her. A long-time fan of Dench, he had her dressing room filled with bouquets of flowers, and also advised her that they could not begin casting the movie until she agreed to accept the role.
  
  
• After the original Pitch Black (2000) proved a success on DVD, Universal became interested in making a sequel. Writer/director David Twohy wrote the screenplays for not one, but three sequels. He and Vin Diesel put them into separate leather binders and presented them to Universal, along with the key for the first binder.
  
  
• Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick replaced another designer who had worked on the film for eight months with only 10 weeks before shooting.
  
  
• The fighting style used by Riddick is a messy variation of the martial art Kali. Kali is characterized by straightforward, powerful attacks, and often is used with blunt weapons like a staff or two pieces of bamboo (called Kali sticks).
  
  
• All of the sets seen in the final film were built and/or were CGI/green screen.
  
  
• In the scene where Toombs discusses where he should take Riddick in custody he mentions Butcher Bay. This is a reference to the video game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004) (VG). In this game Riddick escapes that prison.
  
  
• The fight scene between Riddick, the Mercs, and the Necromongers at the ship's hangar on Crematoria was filmed on Vin Diesel's birthday.
  
  
• The Necromonger statues are based on the sculptures of Adolfo Wildt.
  
  
• It took 12 hours to sew the armor on Lord Marshal's costume.
  
  
• The Planet UV6 is made up of land areas called "Fingerprint Terrain". The majority of the effects work for the scenes on this planet were done by "Rhythm and Hues" in Marina Del Rey, California in April and May of 2004.
  
  
• There were four complete rooms built on set for Imam's house in New Mecca. They were built in a modular way so that walls could be removed at any time to get shots from every angle.
  
  
• Hundreds of extras went through basic military training and drills for added uniformity and realism.
  
  
• The actors inside the Lensor costumes were skilled in body movement, some were from Cirque Du Soleil.
  
  
• Linus Roache originally auditioned for the part of Vaako, but David Twohy immediately saw him instead as the Purifier.
  
  
• The Purifier's line, "I've done unbelievable things in the name of a faith that was never my own," was not originally in the script. It was improvised by Linus Roache and David Twohy kept it in the film.
  
  
• It took six weeks to make one head covering for Lord Marshal.
  
  
• The entire film was shot at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby British Columbia, a former Sears warehouse. The studio is only smaller than all of the stages on the Universal Studios lot - 310,000 square feet.
  
  
• The line, "Now look at you... all back of the bus and shit," was not originally supposed to be said by Toombs, but Nick Chinlund approached David Twohy and asked if he could be given the line because he really liked it.
  
  
• Nick Chinlund apparently really enjoyed the Toombs character. He enjoyed it so much, in fact, that he began writing a Merc Cookbook.
  
  
• Doing a stunt on the set for Planet UV6, Nick Chinlund accidentally swallowed one of his fake teeth.
  
  
• Keith David worked for a total of 12 days to complete his part in the film.
  
  
• Originally "Rated R for violence" as was the first film Pitch Black (2000), this film was envisioned as a PG-13 rated film. Universal appealed the original R-rating, but was not successful. The film was later edited down from the R and was given a "PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language".
  
  
• At one point, the production was the third-largest user of electricity in Canada.
  
  
• Toomb's line regarding Crematoria, "If I owned this place and Hell, I'd rent this place out and live in Hell," is paraphrased from an infamous quote General Phil Sheridan made during post-Civil War Reconstruction, in which he said "If I owned Hell and Texas, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell."
  
  
• Director Cameo: [David Twohy] After Riddick escapes from the Quasi-Deads, the statue and face of writer/director David Twohy can be seen on the Necromonger ship that's shot down by a team of Mercs lead by Toombs.
  
  

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