Lionsgate has just made a pact with IM Global to distribute three of the latter’s high-profile action films in North America; good news for those of you who were worried you’d never get to see DREDD in the states. Okay, I’m sure that wasn’t much of a concern, but it’s still good to know there’s a plan in place for the Pete Travis-directed sci-fi opus starring Karl Urban.
IM Global’s Stuart Ford said: “Lionsgate is the perfect distributor for the kind of action driven films we’re currently focusing our production and financing energies on. As they proved with The Expendables recently, nobody reaches this target audience better, and we’re looking forward to working alongside Joe Drake and his team on all three campaigns.”
In addition to DREDD, Lionsgate also took distribution rights to the Jason Statham vehicle SAFE – about a former elite agent who rescues a 12-year-old girl from the Chinese Triads – as well as PROTECTION, a Simon West-helmed, Dwayne Johnson-starring action-adventure about a former special forces operative who attempts to rescue the daughter of an assassinated judge on the mean streets of Phoenix. Sounds like future REEL ACTION fodder to me… (Although can’t they just combine SAFE and PROTECTION into one movie?)
As for DREDD, it takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and the frenetic vision of director Peter Travis bring Dredd to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film that returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s revered comic strip.
DREDD begins shooting on November 12th in South Africa; SAFE is already in production, and PROTECTION lenses in March 2011.