Dredd 3D Opens at #1 In the United Kingdom

While American audiences will have to wait another week and a half or so to see Karl Urban don Judge Dredd’s iconic helmet in theaters, the British moviegoing public had their first opportunity this week, and quite a few of them apparently took advantage of it.Dredd 3D opened at #1, beating out strong competition from Anna Karenina, Lawless and Total Recall.Dredd took in an estimated £1 million (and still counting), or $1.65 million, at the U.K. box office this past weekend, marking the first time that a film with an 18 certificate (that’s essentially an R rating, for we Yanks) has managed to take the top spot since Saw 3D did nearly two years ago. Saw 3D went on to gross around $45 million in the U.S., which is notable because rumor has it that a $50 million domestic box office draw here in the States could be the trigger for Lionsgate, DNA Films and IM International to greenlight a sequel to Dredd.Anna Karenina came in at £980,000 for #2 this weekend.Based on the characters appearing in 2000 AD, Dredd 3D was written by 28 Days Later‘s Alex Garland and stars Urban alongside Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Domhnall Gleeson and Wood Harris. It opens in the United States on September 21.Oh, and here at ComicBook.com, we quite liked it.