Dredd writer Alex Garland, who also (unofficially) directed the film, says he wouldn’t be interested in returning for a sequel, were it to happen. Released in 2012, Dredd starred Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, an officer who acts as judge, jury, and executioner on the mean streets of the dystopian landscape of Mega City One. The movie followed Dredd as he tutored rookie Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) over the course of what proved to be a pretty hellish training day.
Garland’s extremely violent, yet intelligent and well-acted action thriller was exactly what many fans of the Judge Dredd comic book character wanted from a live-action adaptation, but didn’t get from the far campier 1995 movie starring Sylvester Stallone. Unfortunately, in spite of its strong critical reception and fan support, Dredd bombed at the box office and plans for a potential sequel were subsequently scrapped. Prior to the film’s release, it was reported that credited director Peter Travis had stepped down after production wrapped, but he and Garland later issued a statement claiming that wasn’t so. However, Urban has since confirmed that Garland was, in fact, Dredd’s true director.
Screen Geek spoke to Garland at New York Comic Con earlier this month, where the filmmaker was promoting his upcoming FX series Devs. When asked it he would return to the world of Dredd for a sequel or a proposed TV spinoff, Garland was pretty clear-cut with his answer:
The writer-director’s stance is perfectly understandable. Dredd was clearly a tumultuous production and Garland no doubt found the experience stressful, especially if (as an inside source close to the project told Screen Geek) he had to step in and take over as director early on during filming. Garland has since gone on to make his official directorial debut on the Oscar-winning sci-fi drama Ex Machina and followed that with the equally critically-acclaimed sci-fi novel adaptation, Annihilation, last year. It’s little wonder, then, that Garland appears to have left Dredd and its world firmly in his rearview mirror, rather than dwell on his not-so-fond memories of making that film.
“No. It was a pretty crude experience, for a bunch of reasons. At the end of it, I didn’t want to go back. I love Dredd, by which I mean I love the character, but I’m not in any hurry to do that again.”
That being said, Garland has never expressed any real disappointment with how Dredd turned out, and he clearly had a good experience collaborating with Urban (as evidenced by the actor’s claims that Dredd is only as great as it is because of Garland). So who knows: if the opportunity to continue Dredd in some form ever actually presents itself, Garland might have a change of heart and return to Mega City One for a second round.
Source: Screen Geek
