For the longest time there have been rumours that the massively underrated 2012 adaptation of Judge Dredd was in fact directed by screenwriter Alex Garland and not its credited director, Pete Travis.
Shortly after filming had wrapped on the cult comic book film
DREDD, it was reported that Travis had left the project and Garland would be completing post-production on the film. At the time a statement was released calling the film
"a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties” and the
28 Days Later scribe didn't seek a co-director's credit.
Speaking recently to
JoBlo, Karl Urban was talking about his role in
DREDD and finally confirmed what many had suspected, stating:
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.
Alex Garland has gone on to direct more highly acclaimed science-fiction projects like
Ex Machina and the soon to be released on NETFLIX
Annihilation. When asked if he would like to see Garland return to to helm a DREDD 2 with full directorial control, Urban stated:
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.
The
Star Trek actor then continued to talk about his love for the character of Dredd, the regrets he has that a sequel has yet to materialise and whether we could ever see him armed with the Law Giver again, perhaps in the upcoming
Mega-City One television show:
In fact, there’s so much interest in that particular character and I would dearly love to have the opportunity to get in there and play that again. There are so many wonderful stories in the 2000 A.D./Judge Dredd canon that we’d be remiss not to have the opportunity to tell them. If it were up to me personally we would have been making Dredd 2 two years ago.
The rights holders [Producer Brian Jenkins and Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley ] are in their process of developing their show called Mega-City One and we’ve had many discussions and the ball’s in their court. Hopefully, they get it together and are able to deliver more of what the audience wants and it would certainly be a privilege and a pleasure to be a part of it.
It's always been a shame that, despite vocal fan appreciation and a cult following, a
Dredd sequel never came to pass. Though Urban's love for the character is still plain to see,so it would certainly be great to see him reprise the role.
What did you think of DREDD? Would you like to see Alex Garland direct a film sequel? Or are you excited for the MEGA CITY ONE TV show? Leave your thoughts below.