Vin Diesel to play Riddick again, provided he can confront the inky depths of his soul

In the interim before Fast Five’s inevitable entry into the Oscar race launches him irreversibly into the prestige pic phase of his career, time is growing short for Vin Diesel to remain in his roots—a feeling of urgent nostalgia that’s so far forced him to combine remakes of The Iron Giant and The Pacifier into one time-saving movie. Now it seems he’s considering similarly rushing into another movie as Riddick, his night-vision-enhanced antihero, as early as this summer. The only obstacle: Money, as Diesel told fans via his Facebook page that “in order for us to make a true R-rated film, I must work for scale upfront. Not unlike the Find Me Guilty experience (which I wouldn't have changed for the world).”

But even though Vin Diesel specifically brought up money, don’t believe that Vin Diesel ever really thinks about money. “Money is always secondary to art, integrity, and spirit,” he says, before waxing philosophic (and dramatic): “But the real issue is deeper. Can I suspend my life to momentarily venture to that dark place… called Riddick?” And can he emerge from that dark place, once more pulled back from the brink of the obsidian abyss, in time to do xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage? Only the shadows within him know for sure. [via Movieline]