Well, given what others of his ilk are doing nowadays, and doing successfully, he probably could’ve taken to Kickstarter to raise the funds he needed, instead of putting his house at risk to complete production on the upcoming movie.
Not that I’m encouraging it, but if others are having success with it, I certainly wouldn’t protest if he did.
Vin Diesel reveals in a Hollywood Reporter profile, the tough road he had to travel in order to complete the 3rd film in the “Riddick” franchise, titled Riddick.
He details his 9-year battle to make the movie, which didn’t have the financial backing of its predecessors, forcing the actor to use his own money to complete the project.
He tells The Hollywood Reporter, “I had to leverage my house. If we didn’t finish the film, I would be homeless.”
But Diesel goes on to say how much the risk he took makes him even more proud of the completed film: “It’s a strange and unique sense of gratification, and it’s not like any film I’ve done in the last 10 years.“
Universal Pictures backed the last film, but not this time around however. The studio is only distributing the film this time around. Media Rights Capital, Radar Pictures and Diesel’s One Race Films financed this 3rd film in the franchise.
And when you don’t have quite the same amount of money to work with as you did previously (the last film cost around $110 million), you tend to work a bit leaner and harder. Riddick costs a reported $38 million (still more than the first film, which, when adjusted for inflation, cost just over $30 million).
For example, shooting was cut down to 47 days, compared to 85 on the last film, the cast and crew worked tighter and quicker, and, as noted, even with $38 million, Diesel still had to leverage his house. With a $38 million budget, not quite what a typical indie filmmaker has to work with, but still working with that old indie spirit.
And if the next film is a success, expect a 4th film, because, as THR says, plans another are already in the works, with director David Twohy currently writing the next installment.
Maybe Diesel won’t have to risk something else he treasures to help finance that one, assuming the next one, which arrives in theaters on September 6, is a box office smash.
Read the full THR piece HERE.