One half of New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo to be the main villain in a big budget sequel?

Everyone loves Flight of the Conchords. Honestly, I've never met anyone who hasn't at least warmed to Bret and Jermaine's adventures in New York. So now the series has finished its fair to say everyone was interested in what they'd do next. If I'm honest with you, I never expected one of them to end up in Men in Black III. But Jermaine Clement will be...

I love left field casting, especially if someone has the balls to do it for a big budget blockbuster with a lot riding on it. I have no doubt that Clement's distant, detached style will suit well for playing a character we can only assume will be alien, even if it is difficult to imagine someone so likeable being a main villain. I'm very happy to see him moving on to bigger, if not necessarily better, things. But there's a 'but' here...who the hell was asking for another Men in Black movie?

Don't get me wrong, the original was a likeable film. It had a great sense of humour, some impressive effects for the time, and truly showcased Will Smith's ability as an A-list star. But there was something about it that was so...90's. The fact that its first sequel was so awful doesn't exactly help things either. Its been 8 years since that film was released; too long in my book. I'm sure the film will turn a profit, I just couldn't really care less about it.

The fact that Will Smith would return to the franchise doesn't exactly seem right either. All I can guess is that there's an absolutely massive pay-check involved. Smith's no Vin Diesel; he doesn't have to return to his old franchises that he'd previously 'outgrown' just to pick up some work. The man is box office gold and can pick and choose what he wants to do. Doing Men in Black III just seems like a step backwards.

Oh well, we'll have to see how this one works out for Jermaine. He's still got a bright future ahead of him whatever he does. In the meantime, here's some classic Conchords...

Riddick is Returning (and it's a good thing)

It's been no secret that writer/director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel have been trying to get a new Riddick project off the ground for a while but Variety has recently confirmed a new film is in the works, provisionally given the simple title of 'Riddick.' For Vin Diesel this marks another franchise return after he came running back to the 'xXx' and 'The Fast and the Furious' movies, presumably with his tail between his legs. So is this new Riddick movie a sign of desperation or an attempt to reignite Diesel's best work?

Pitch Black is the film that made Diesel a star. Ten years later it remains his best film and while he may not have quite lived up to his billing as the next big action hero in that time he can still carry a film if he is given the right role. Unfortunately, Diesel has proven to have a fairly limited range, explaining his return to franchises he had previously left. However, in Riddick it was clear that Diesel had found his perfect role. Complex, mysterious and with an intriguing and unexplained past, it was a character that could outgrow his ambitious but fairly humble beginnings in Pitch Black. Given the right treatment, Diesel's Riddick could have become a profitable, and maybe even iconic, character.

Which brings us to The Chronicles of Riddick. It wasn't a classic. In fact it was a gigantic mess but it was nowhere near as bad as critics, and the money it made, suggested. It suffered from the budget and expectations placed upon it; whereas Pitch Black had been a modestly budgeted sleeper hit, Chronicles was an epic behemoth; filled with scientifically questionable worlds, evil alien armies, and Judi Dench. The modern need for blockbusters to create a mythology and expanded universe saw Riddick hopping from planet to planet, a baffling Macbeth-inspired sub-plot and numerous new characters and races. Twohy's expanded vision was certainly intriguing and there were quite a few entertaining and interesting set pieces but in the end things didn't add up and the lack of a decent plot, and, most importantly, good character development effectively seemed to kill the franchise before it had even got going.

But with the news of a new film comes a new way of thinking; a good sci-fi film doesn't necessarily have to be a massively budgeted epic. A new film will be considerably cheaper than Chronicles and through this, like in Pitch Black, there should be more focus on character and suspense than size and spectacle. The character of Riddick grabbed our attention but Chronicles did nothing to build on this and paranoid horror was swapped for action set pieces. Of course, there is no guarantee that a new film won't end up a mess like Chronicles but with less resources and a bit more focus, the Riddick franchise could be back on track.