Judge Dredd himself is usually the one for handing out death sentences but someone else delivered a critical blow when Collider sat down with Dredd screenwriter Alex Garland.
Garland was at the SXSW to discuss his excellent directoral debut, Ex Machina and naturally, a sequel to Dredd came up in the conversation.
When asked about his feelings on the Dredd movie, Garland said, “The Dredd thing is a surprise. It’s a really complicated set of emotions. I have a lot of regret about how things worked out with Dredd, but it’s very gratifying. The regret it—you do a kind of transaction, particularly with the creators of it, which is that we want to do this thing and honor what you did, and try to do it properly, and then the film will reward that trust. That act of faith and trust and decency. And I think that the film rewarded them in one sense, but no in another. I do believe it rewarded them creatively, unless they’re lying to me about that. But I think it has created this thing of this movie that fails. The story of Dredd is that of a failed movie. Both times, for f**k’s sake. And to be party to that, when that was exactly the intention—to not do that—is kind of difficult"
He even went on to say that fans should stop buying the DVD/Blu-Ray in hopes of getting a sequel made through sales. He said, “and I also feel a sense of responsibility because I know there are these people who do this stuff like they’ve got money and they spend money on a DVD to try and up the chance of a sequel getting made. Because I don’t have an online profile or persona or anything like that I can’t speak to these people directly, but what I want to say is that’s so good of you, and thank you, but keep your money because the people who make the decisions don’t get moved by that kind of thing. They’re moved by other stuff, other equations, other algorithms”
But maybe, thinking that he had ruined a million fanboys lives with one swift blow, offered just a little hope:
“How can I say this without being soppy? It’s touching. It means something that these people support the film in that way, but the thing people want, which is a sequel, I don’t think is going to happen. I think it will happen (let me rephrase that) I don’t think it’s happening with me and the people who made the last one”
So with Garland seemingly given up on the idea of a sequel ever getting made, what do you think the chances are? Do we need more names on that petition? Comment in the usual place…