Pitch Black (film)

In the distant future, the spaceship Hunter-Gratzner is transporting passengers in cryostasis. Among them is Imam, a Muslim preacher guiding three young acolytes to New Mecca on a hajj; a teenaged boy named Jack; a pair of prospectors named Shazza and Zeke; a rich merchant named Paris; and a law enforcement officer, William J. Johns, who is escorting the notorious criminal Richard B. Riddick. Riddick has surgically modified eyes that allow him to see in the dark but are highly sensitive to light.

Micrometeoroids from a comet rupture the ship's hull, killing the captain and sending the ship off course. The ship's first officer, Owens, and the docking pilot, Carolyn Fry, attempt to land the ship on a nearby planet. As the ship falls apart, Fry decides to dump the passenger section to reduce their weight, but Owens stops her. The vessel crashes into the planet's surface, most of the passengers are killed, and Owens is fatally wounded. Riddick manages to escape into the desert despite Johns' attempts to keep him restrained.

The survivors explore their surroundings, noticing that the three suns surrounding the planet keep it in perpetual daylight. They find an abandoned geological research settlement, with a water well and a dropship that lacks enough power to fly. Zeke is killed whilst exploring a hole in the ground, and Riddick is immediately suspected. While searching for Zeke's body, Fry barely escapes from photosensitive underground creatures after finding his remains in their cave. Johns recaptures Riddick and offers him a deal: if he helps the survivors escape the planet, Johns will allow him to go free.

As the group discusses their next move, one of the young acolytes is ambushed and eaten while exploring the settlement, and they realize that the creatures killed all of the geologists. An orrery shows that an eclipse of the entire planet is imminent, meaning the creatures will be free to hunt above ground. Johns informs Fry that Riddick can pilot the dropship, having stolen a vessel to escape from his last prison; in turn, Riddick reveals to Fry that Johns is actually a morphine-addicted bounty hunter impersonating a lawman, and that he deliberately chose not to help Owens in his final moments.

The group returns to the crash site on a solar-powered sand truck to salvage power cells for the dropship before the eclipse, but it begins just as they get there. Creatures pour out of the ground, and both Shazza and another acolyte are killed. After regrouping, Riddick agrees to lead Fry and the others back to the dropship on foot through the darkness, thanks to his special sight, and the group builds a rig from the ship's lighting rods to protect themselves. Paris accidentally destroys the rig, resulting in his death. After Riddick reveals to the group that Jack is actually female and the scent of her menstrual blood is drawing the attention of the creatures, Johns suggests to Riddick that they kill Jack and use her as bait to distract them. Instead, Riddick engages Johns in a hand-to-hand fight, wounds him, and leaves him to be devoured. The rest of the group pushes on, while Riddick drags the power cells behind him.

After Iman's last acolyte is killed and rainfall starts putting out their improvised torches, Riddick hides the others in a cave and goes to power up the ship himself. Inside the cave, the group discovers bio-luminescent worms, which they stuff in the empty bottles to use as light. Fry leaves the cave and finds Riddick getting ready to leave. She pleads with him to help her rescue the others, but he refuses and insists that she come with him. Fry refuses and demands that Riddick join her in going back to save Imam and Jack. Riddick agrees out of sheer fascination with this decision. They find Imam and Jack, and while returning to the ship Riddick is separated from the group and wounded by the creatures; Fry goes back for him but a creature stabs and carries her off. Riddick makes it to the ship and waits until the last possible moment before engaging the engines to incinerate as many creatures as possible. While leaving the planet, Jack asks Riddick what they should tell the authorities about him; he tells her to say that Riddick died on the planet.

• Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick. A former mercenary, soldier and pilot, and an infamous criminal and murderer, he was captured by Johns and placed in suspended animation along with Johns, who is bringing him to prison to collect a bounty. He has surgically altered eyes that allow him to see in the dark but cause him immense pain in light; he wears goggles at all times to protect them.
• Radha Mitchell as Carolyn Fry, a docking pilot for the commercial transport ship Hunter-Gratzner. She has a moment of moral weakness during the emergency landing attempt, intending to sacrifice the ship's passenger section to save herself. Her regret over this decision causes her to become obsessed with getting the survivors off the planet.
• Cole Hauser as William J. Johns, a bounty hunter and war veteran who is posing as a lawman to bring Riddick (who gave him a near-fatal stab wound for which he has become dependent on morphine) to prison so he can collect a large reward. He is exceptionally selfish, willing to do whatever will save his own hide.
• Rhiana Griffith as Jack, a young girl who is travelling to a distant planet for unknown reasons and dresses as a boy. She idolizes Riddick, and even shaves her head and wears makeshift goggles to copy his look.
• Keith David as Abu "Imam" al-Walid, a devout Muslim preacher who is travelling to New Mecca, accompanied by three boys named Ali, Hassan, and Sulieman. He clashes with Riddick, who derides his faith in God.
• Lewis Fitz-Gerald as Paris P. Ogilvie, an intergalactic merchant and antiques dealer selling weaponry and art from Earth and other planets. He is also an alcoholic and extremely paranoid and distrusting of others.
• Claudia Black as Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery, a free settler who is travelling across the universe looking for a new home.
• John Moore as John "Zeke" Ezekiel, Shazza's companion.
• Simon Burke as Greg Owens, first officer of the Hunter-Gratzner. During the ship's emergency landing, he stops Fry from dumping the passenger section by locking her controls. He bleeds to death when a piece of the ship pierces him during the crash.
• Les Chantery as Suleiman
• Sam Sari as Hassan
• Firass Dirani as Ali
• Ric Anderson as Total Stranger, a surviving passenger shot dead by Zeke, who mistakes him for Riddick.
• Vic Wilson as Captain Tom Mitchell, who dies in the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner.
• Angela Moore as Dead Crew Member

According to Ken and Jim Wheat, the idea of Pitch Black was suggested by David Madden during his tenure in Interscope Communications, where “[t]ravelers visit a planet where multiple suns mean perpetual daylight, but when an eclipse brings darkness, ghosts emerge.” The ghost part only survived the first draft.[5]

Pitch Black opened in 1,832 theaters on 18 February 2000, grossing $11,577,688 over its opening weekend and ranking 4th at the box office. The film has a domestic gross of $39,240,659 and an international gross of $13,947,000, giving it a worldwide total of $53,187,659.[3]

Pitch Black was released on VHS and DVD on October 10, 2000. It was re-released on DVD in 2004 as The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black. It was released on HD DVD on July 11, 2006, and on Blu-ray on March 31, 2009. The disc contains the theatrical edition and an unrated director's cut edition, containing 3 more minutes of extra material.[15][16] A LaserDisc release was also planned, but cancelled by mid-2001 due to waning support for that format.[17]

• List of films featuring eclipses

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• Official movie website
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• Pitch Black at Box Office Mojo
• Pitch Black at Rotten Tomatoes
• "Vin Diesel of Pitch Black" at the Wayback Machine (archived June 7, 2004). (Online chat transcript) SciFi.com, February 16, 2000. Archived from the original on June 16, 2004; and Part 2 at the Wayback Machine (archived June 14, 2004), February 24, 2000. Archived from the original on June 14, 2004.