DREDD, after (or perhaps because of) much rumor, doubt, and speculation, is currently sitting pretty at #4 on our list of Most Popular Upcoming Movies. Which is proof positive that there’s a whole mess of Schmoes out there suitably intrigued and excited to see what September has in store for us on the Judge Dredd front. I’m firmly entrenched along side them, and now that I’ve heard what screenwriter Alex Garland (28 DAYS LATER, SUNSHINE) has in mind for the future of Mega City One and the Judges within I’m all the more excited to slap down my money and do my bit to make sure his ideas happen.
When speaking just a day or two ago at the London Film and Comic Con, what follows is what Garland said regarding what it will take to make DREDD a hit and what might happen if it is.
“We’ll see a sequel if the gross is above $50 million in the US. It’s a simple financial equation. We’re an independent movie… In terms of Dark Judges, I wrote Death into this script, but it didn’t feel right for the first film. I thought it felt right but after about 16 drafts and it really didn’t work out. I needed to have set up the city and Dredd first before taking on what is essentially a riff on the Judges. You need to know what the Judges are before you can subvert them. I wrote a second script which was about Dredd going out to the Cursed Earth. That was rejected for similar reasons. If they want to make sequels, I’ve got a story that goes from this one into the origins of Dredd and the city. Then the third one has would have a strange, existential attack from the Dark Judges.”
So Dredd fans, what do you think of Garland’s plans? And is a $50 million take possible for this gritty, grimy, and violent Sci-Fi story starring Karl Urban as Judge Dredd and Olivia Thirlby as the rookie Judge Anderson when it releases on September 21st?
Olivia Thirlby can judge my Anderson anytime.