Here's an interesting bit of news straight from the horse's mouth. Actor, producer, director, writer and light bulb telemarketer Vin Diesel likes to reach out to his fans via Facebook – mainly with inspirational photoshopped images of himself like the one pictured – and on Monday he posted this update with regards to the release schedule for the next sequel.

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.

Does this mean a January 2013 release date? Probably not, but at least that gives us one half of an approximate release period. Depending on who you believe, the sequel will either be called Riddick Returns or The Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking. If I had to pick, I'd go for the former, if only because the latter makes me want to bang my head against something until my brain changes the subject.

The more interesting part of this update is the hint at two possible further sequels: Underverse (named after some alternate dimension in the Chronicles universe where death doesn't exist) and Furya (named after the race of warriors from which Riddick is descended). Presumably the studio he is referring to is Universal, but it's difficult to say whether they're serious about securing distribution rights for the potential future sequels or whether they were just gathering information.