Since 2019, Karl Urban has been seemingly superglued on a leather trench coat and floral shirts, constantly talking about how “diabolical” things are in “The Boys.” The hit R-rated superhero show, not to be confused with the British superhero series “Misfits,” is easily one of the best comic book adaptations in recent years. However, six years earlier, the man better known as a superhero-hating anarchist was the law of Mega City One in the sort-of Pete Travis-directed movie, “Dredd.”
Daring to try to lift the curse left by Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 adaptation of the character, “Dredd” saw Urban don the legendary headgear as Judge Dredd. Joined by Olivia Thirlby as Cassandra Anderson, the two find themselves in a futuristic “Die Hard” scenario where they’re trapped in an apartment block housing a massive drug-manufacturing operation. Leading the criminal army descending on our judges is “Game of Thrones'” Lena Headey as the drug lord Ma-Ma, who sends wave after wave of goons against Urban’s Dredd and his judge in training, only for them to end up on the receiving end of some very tough justice. Earning a respectable 80% positive critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is widely regarded as one of the most underappreciated comic book movies ever made. It has gained such a cult following that fans and the film’s frontman have pleaded for a sequel ever since.
Karl Urban wants ‘ghost director’ Alex Garland to make a Dredd sequel
Even with its impressive slow-motion action sequences and Urban’s adherence to the golden rule of never removing Dredd’s helmet on camera, “Dredd” didn’t deliver enough at the box office. It earned a disappointing $41 million against an estimated $50 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo, and the heroic lawman failed to compete with other franchises in their prime (yeah, we’re looking at you, MCU). Nevertheless, Urban heard the fan reaction from those who adored it and was happy to come back for more. However, in a revealing interview with JoBlo, the man behind the badge revealed that the film’s writer Alex Garland (director of “Civil War”) did more than just writing duties for the project.
“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.” When Urban was asked how he’d feel about reuniting with Garland on a follow-up film, he was completely on board with the prospect. “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.'” Unfortunately, Garland hasn’t shared the same enthusiasm.
Alex Garland called Dredd a ‘crude experience’
While “Dredd” might’ve gotten better with time, working on the project itself wasn’t much fun for its screenwriter and seemingly off-the-books director. During an appearance at New York Comic-Con (via Screen Geek), Garland was asked whether he’d ever fire up the Lawmaster with Urban one more time and take to the streets with another Dredd-based tale. Unfortunately, the response was enough to crush any fans’ dreams of it happening.
“No. It was a pretty crude experience, for a bunch of reasons,” Garland explained. “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.” From there, the return of Judge Dredd entered a creative minefield. Initial plans to avoid a sequel instead moved toward a spin-off TV series titled “Judge Dredd: Mega City One” (per 2000 AD), which got written before grinding to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As it stands, the last major effort to bring Dredd back to the screen was a full reboot helmed by Taika Waititi (via The Hollywood Reporter) and penned by Drew Pearce (“Iron Man 3” and “The Fall Guy”). Who knows? Perhaps Waititi could call up Urban, who previously worked with the director on “Thor: Ragnarok,” to reprise his role and prove that there is some justice in the world, after all.
