After years of fans campaigning for a sequel to 2012’s Dredd, it looks like they will get a new Judge Dredd movie, just not the one they expected. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, Judge Dredd first appeared in the British weekly anthology comic 2000 AD. A cult sci-fi hero, the character has had two film adaptations. The first was Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 film, which disappointed fans and critics. 2012’s Dredd, starring Karl Urban, earned positive critical reviews and, despite disappointing at the box office, gained a cult following.
Taika Waititi is set to direct a reboot of Judge Dredd, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Waititi’s credits include the MCU’s Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder, as well as critically acclaimed comedies such as The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows, and Jojo Rabbit. The film script will be written by Drew Pearce, best known for writing The Fall Guy and co-writing Iron Man 3 and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. The film is being shopped to various studios and is said to be closer to the original comics than the previous feature films.
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Waititi helming a new Judge Dredd reboot comes shortly after news broke that his long-in-development remake of Akira had fallen through at Warner Bros. While rumors have circulated that Marvel Studios is considering Thor 5, Waititi is not expected to return, given the poor audience and critical reaction to Thor: Love and Thunder. If Judge Dredd is the next project on Waititi’s schedule, this will also further delay his Star Wars film, which was first announced back in 2020. Lucasfilm does not seem to be in a rush for Waititi’s turn in a galaxy far, far away, as they currently have The Mandalorian & Grogu set for release in 2026, Starfighter about to begin filming, and a movie centered on the character of Rey in the works.
What Happened to ‘Judge Dredd: Mega-City One’?
Despite 2012’s Dredd disappointing at the box office, the film’s cult status kept it in conversation for some type of continuation. Star Karl Urban, producer Adi Shankar, and writer Alex Garland (who reportedly served as the movie’s director for much of the reshoots) teased a follow-up for years, with hope coming in the form of a planned television series titled Judge Dredd: Mega-City One in 2017. Urban was in talks to reprise his role as Judge Dredd, but the television series was paused indefinitely in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While producer Jason Kingsley had teased that the television scripts were ready, the series has seemingly been canceled in favor of the reboot.
While Waititi, on the surface, seems like an odd pick for Judge Dredd, the director’s comedic and often absurd style might fit well with the original comics’ dark, pointed satire about the judicial system. The original Judge Dredd stories were during Margaret Thatcher’s leadership of the Conservative Party in England, and the character hit the comic shelves two years before she became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Now Judge Dredd’s extreme measures of justice feel appropriate at a time of massive protest in the United States regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, calls to defund the police, and concerns about the Trump administration using inhumane measures to detain prisoners and controversial political pardons. It might not be Dredd 2, but maybe the third time is the charm for Judge Dredd on the big screen.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
