The Sci-Fi Horror Movie That Made Vin Diesel An Action Star Is Streaming On Netflix

Any self-respecting fan of the family-obsessed, Corona-loving action star Vin Diesel knows that four franchises have become staples of his career. Three of the big ones include the farcical, highly fueled "Fast and Furious," the amusingly extreme "xXx," and, of course, the mega movie franchise where he says "I am Groot" repeatedly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One film series with a few more missteps, however, is "The Chronicles of Riddick." Spanning three movies over 13 years, this space-based saga cast Diesel as a legendary, feared convict turned anti-hero, debuting in 2000 in a film that was part "Assault on Precinct 13" and part "Alien."

The film was "Pitch Black." It's currently available to stream on Netflix, and it remains one of the best movies in his entire career. Directed by David Twohy, the movie sees Diesel's Riddick transported to an off-world prison on a ship with a bunch of passengers, each with secrets of their own. Catastrophe strikes, though, when the ship goes down on a planet that coincidentally enters an eclipse, covering the place in darkness.

This leads to some of the castaways being picked off by bloodthirsty, bat-like creatures that have the advantage of seeing in the dark. The good news is: so can Riddick. Admittedly not a massive box office smash, "Pitch Black" only just about broke even, but it became a cult classic just like some of the other movies it felt inspired by. It also made a star out of Vin Diesel.

The critical reception of "Pitch Black" was on about the same level as its ticket sales. With a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus was that while the film might've been a by-the-numbers sci-fi horror, it was Vin Diesel's gruff, unforgiving anti-hero who lit the darkness. Pete Bradshaw of The Guardian said, "David Twohy's film undoubtedly has something interesting about it, and that something can be summarised in two words: Vin Diesel." Empire's Darren Bignell also said, "This is filmmaking that's lean, mean and (in Diesel) boasts one hell of a fighting machine."

Diesel wasn't the only highlight either. Filling in for an Ellen Ripley-like role with a conscience was Radha Mitchell, who would go on to get additional scares in films like "Silent Hill" and the underrated horror remake, "The Crazies." Also lending their support were horror icon Keith David and a young future "Yellowstone" star, Cole Hauser, as a crooked lawman who has it out for Riddick in most of the film. With this kind of cast and a still-entertaining movie with Diesel leading the way, "Pitch Black" remains the best entry in "The Chronicles of Riddick" franchise, which its leading man is still keen to return to, even with the sub-standard sequels that followed.

Try as he might, Vin Diesel hasn't quite been able to return to the former glory of his first stint as Riddick. After "Pitch Black," fans got "The Chronicles of Riddick," which, even with the efforts of Judi Dench, Thandiwe Newton, and a young Karl Urban, couldn't land a hit at the box office. Its follow-up, titled "Riddick," was fueled by a smaller budget and led to a decent success compared to its predecessor. Regardless of where it landed financially or critically, though, it hadn't stopped Diesel from keeping the fires fueled for fans over the promise of a fourth movie.

Announced by the star himself in 2014, Diesel also confirmed that David Twohy would be back in the director's seat, this time to helm a project that would look into Riddick's backstory and his Furyan lineage (the race of people that he is supposedly the only one of). Talk of the movie came and went for almost a decade, until in 2023, it was reported by Deadline that a movie was happening, and it was titled "Riddick: Furya."

And that's it. Three years later, unfortunately, fans have been kept in the dark about "Riddick: Furya," with Diesel's "Fast and Furious" franchise taking pole position and the final installment of that franchise being his main focus. Perhaps once that ends up in the garage permanently, he might finally shift his focus to his old cold-blooded killer hero, and it might match the level that "Pitch Black" did so brilliantly.