Last week, there were reports of complications behind the scenes of DREDD, the feature relaunch of the futuristic comic book lawman. As the story went, director Pete Travis was jettisoned from the editing room due to the typical “creative differences”, and the movie’s writer Alex Garland (28 DAYS LATER) was taking over. This immediately prompted speculation that the movie could had some serious problems.
Rest easy, because “officially” the reports of a Travis-Garland Block War have been erroneous. The pair released this joint statement to the LA Times: “During all stages of the filmmaking, DREDD has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties. From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film. This situation has been misinterpreted. To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit. We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when its released next year.”
So that’s that. (Unless it’s not.) Maybe they paid a visit to the Aggro Dome and worked it out. Either way, we’ll reserve judgment for when the movie hits screens. Or at least until the trailer…
The new DREDD has Karl Urban as Mega City One’s top cop, who faces a rough day on the job dealing with a young rookie (Olivia Thirlby), corrupt Judges and a small army of criminals, all wrapped DIE HARD-style in a giant skyscraper.