Vin Diesel put his house on the line to make Riddick sequel

There aren't many actors who would risk the roof over their heads to make a movie.

Producers, maybe; directors, perhaps; but actors?

Vin Diesel, however, has revealed that he did just that in order to bring the long-awaited sequel to 'The Chronicles of Riddick' to the big screen.

[New Riddick footage unveiled]

“I had to leverage my house,” Diesel told the Hollywood Reporter. “If we didn't finish the film, I would be homeless.”

He added that he decided to plunge head-long into making the film after speaking to a fan, who told him: “We want a rated-R movie and we'd be willing to pay $10 each. Surely you'd have enough to make it then.”

“Something about that comment made me think, bless their heart, and if I can do anything with this new-found success, if I could do anything at all, I could deliver on that wish," he added.

[Vin Diesel almost starred in Marvel Phase 3 film]

For 'Riddick', the third film in the series, he hooked up once more with director David Twohy, who wrote and directed both 'Pitch Black' and 'The Chronicles of Riddick'.

But while Universal is distributing the film in cinemas, they had to come up with the money to make it outside of the major studio system.

“We had to learn how to be independent filmmakers again,” said Twohy of the project.

Most interesting about the movie is indeed its comparatively minuscule budget of $38 million (£24 million), a fraction of what a sci-fi blockbuster would usually cost, and more in line with the first film in the series 'Pitch Black', which was made in 2000 for $23 million.

According to Twohy, the film's crew completed the filming in just 47 days to reduce budgets, compared to 85 days on the last film, which was made within the studio system.

However, the PG-13-rated sequel performed disappointingly, struggling to pay back its rumoured $120 million production budget.

Here's hoping it pays off for Diesel, otherwise he'll be looking for a couch to sleep on...