Yesterday, I had the pleasure of talking to Karl Urban, who was promoting his new thriller, BENT, and naturally we went on a rollercoaster of topics after discussing the new film. Having been in so many franchises already in his career, from videogame adaptations (DOOM), Lord of the Rings, Marvel (THOR: RAGNAROK), sci-fi (RIDDICK), fantasy (PATHFINDER), comic adaptations (RED 2, DREDD), and a little franchise that explores the final frontier of space (see his update on that HERE), Urban has really covered the spectrum in his career so far. However, even with all his credits, the one film that constantly pops up is DREDD. A cult classic at this stage in the game, the calls for a DREDD sequel have been well documented and the cries have been loud to see Urban don the badge, helmet and gun again. As a massive fan of the film myself, I was happy to hear what Urban had to say, which gives us an update on when/if he'll play the role again (most likely in the Netflix Mega City One series) and also makes a point of clarifying that it was really Alex Garland that directed the film, not the IMDB-listed Pete Travis, a tidbit that's been floating around since the film's release, but this is the first time (that I could find) we've heard from the star on the matter.
Out of all the fan questions out there, the overwhelming question from everyone is when will we see Karl Urban as Dredd again…
Wow. That’s a sweet compliment to get. In fact, there’s so much interest in that particular character and I would dearly love to have the opportunity to get in there and play that again. There are so many wonderful stories in the 2000 A.D./Judge Dredd canon that we’d be remiss not to have the opportunity to tell them. If it were up to me personally we would have been making Dredd 2 two years ago.
The rights holders [Producer Brian Jenkins and Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley ] are in their process of developing their show called Mega City One and we’ve had many discussions and the ball’s in their court. Hopefully, they get it together and are able to deliver more of what the audience wants and it would certainly be a privilege and a pleasure to be a part of it.
It already feels like it’s been 6 years too long since we’ve seen Dredd. It’s a classic at this point and I don’t think we could see anyone other than you as Dredd.
Well, I can. I mean, I could see other actors portraying him and one day that is an inevitability. I would love to have the opportunity to play DREDD again, but if it doesn’t happen then I’m happy with the fact that we’ve made a film that has become a cult classic and that people have discovered over time.
A huge part of the success of DREDD is in fact due to Alex Garland and what a lot of people don’t realize is that Alex Garland actually directed that movie.
To see him on a Dredd Sequel would be a dream come true. That would be amazing…
Right? That would rock my world. I just hope when people think of Alex Garland’s filmography that DREDD is the first film that he made before Ex Machina. You think about it in those terms; it goes DREDD, EX MACHINA, ANNIHILATION.
It's been a while since we've heard anything about the movement of Mega City One and it sounds like wheels are still turning there. Urban's comments are hopeful, though, and he sounds more than ready and willing to step back into the role. The fact that he's championing Garland as the actual director of the film actually speaks volumes about the film in retrospect as it most certainly has the style of what we've seen from Garland since with EX MACHINA and ANNIHILATION. Maybe, if it's not too much trouble, Garland can find a way to go ahead and make a DREDD sequel. If we could just make that happen, okay thanks.
We've got more from Urban tomorrow, where I'll put up the full interview that includes info about his new film BENT and an answer to yet another big fanboy question that always seem to pop up; would he be interested in playing Batman? Check back tomorrow for that.
Urban can next be seen in BENT, in select theaters and VOD this Friday, March 9th.
*Note: This story has been corrected to omit the Netflix reference for Mega-City One. The show is still in development and not yet connected to a network