4. Riddick (9 years)
Previous Release: The Chronicles of Riddick, released June 2004.
The Sequel: Riddick, due out September 2013. It's amazing this one ever got the green-light given that Chronicles was a horrendous box office bomb, though apparently did rather well on DVD. With a budget only 1/3 of that film (without even factoring in inflation), this low-fi Riddick certainly has an uphill struggle on its hands, most crucially the issue of whether there is even an audience for this character anymore. While the two previous films are cult classics, only the first one was really any good, and I imagine that many, like me, were supremely disappointed with the effects-heavy but narratively hollow Chronicles. It's tough to be too excited about the film given that it's taken so long to bring to the production stage and has a tiny, restrictive budget (made clear from the trailer, which boats some garishly cheap visuals). Still, it's got Vin Diesel and it's rated-R, so not
all hope is lost...