With production now finished on the third instalment of the Riddick franchise, which marks writer-director David Twohy’s return to work with the brilliant Vin Diesel, who stars as the eponymous Riddick, Diesel has announced that the film is now looking more likely to be released in 2013 than the 2012 he’d been hoping for.

Continuing his usual track of giving us all the details via his own Facebook page, Diesel had the following to say, which includes a great possibility to make up for the later release:

“The studio said the earliest they could release the new “Riddick” is in January… was hoping for 2012… but, it’s on the horizon.

/smile

P.s. I think they are liking what they are seeing… haha, cause they asked when both Underverse and Furya would be ready to make and release… haha… now that’s a ways in the future but it is exciting.”

Universal are distributing the film, and given that their line-up through to the end of the year includes Battleship (still be to be released in the US), Snow White and the Huntsman, Savages, Ted, The Bourne Legacy, Les Misérables, and This Is Forty, you can see why they might want to hold Riddick back to kick-start their new-year schedule instead, with a strong promotional campaign later this year to raise awareness in those as yet unacquainted with the films so far.

The possibility of already looking beyond Riddick is definitely exciting, though, and if Universal are loving the look of the third film enough to start talking about a fourth and fifth, you have to believe that, a) Riddick is going to be immense, and everything fans of the first two films are hoping for, and b) a five-instalment franchise would be nothing short of incredible.

Of course, with Fast Six currently in production, Fast Seven on the horizon, along with more of Diesel’s projects, Underverse and Furya could well be a distance away, but the very fact that the ball might already be starting to roll is fantastic news in my books.

Along with Diesel, we can look forward to a great cast in Riddick, including the likes of Karl Urban reprising his role from The Chronicles of Riddick, alongside Katee Sackhoff, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Bokeem Woodbine, Nolan Gerard Funk, singer-turning-actress Keri Hilson, and WWE’s Dave Bautista. In case you haven’t seen it already, the plot synopsis looks a little like this:

“The latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga that began with 2000?s hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004?s The Chronicles of Riddick reunites writer/director David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway, The Fugitive) and star Vin Diesel (the Fast and Furious franchise, xXx). Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick, a dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy.

The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.”

It sounds like we probably won’t have Riddick to look forward to this year, but here’s to hoping that we’ll be getting it very soon in 2013, because you can guarantee it’s going to be brilliant. I can’t wait. For everything we’ve seen from the film so far, you can click right here.