Karl Urban Gives Update on Dredd Sequel

Since the debut of Dredd back in 2012, fans have been clamoring to get star Karl Urban back under the helmet for a sequel, with the actor reiterating the comments he has made countless times about his interest in playing the character once again at this past weekend’s C2E2. The character’s future is uncertain, as no official sequel plans have taken shape and reports about a TV series based on the property being developed have emerged, with Urban expressing his excitement and enthusiasm for the character, going so far as to admit he’d be happy to see the character return in any capacity, even if he isn’t involved.

“Listen, I would love to make it, I’m on the record saying that a bunch of times. I don’t know if that’s gonna happen,” Urban responded to a fan when asked about the sequel. “I think that the guys that own the rights to Dredd, Rebellion, I think they’re developing something called ‘Mega-City One’ and it would just be great to see more Dredd, whether it’s with me or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m a fan of Dredd and there’s so many great stories there. I’d love to see them. And I have no doubt that, someday, someone will make it. It’s just a matter of time.”

Despite the film being a major success among fans, it failed to make a major impact at the box office. Dredd sits at 79% positive reviews from critics on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, but Box Office Mojo notes it only earned $41 million worldwide on a reported budget of $50 million.

Complicating the franchise’s big-screen potential is that original writer Alex Garland has already claimed he wouldn’t return for a follow-up.

When asked by ScreenGeek about whether or not he would ever return to the franchise, Garland confirmed, “No. It was a pretty crude experience, for a bunch of reasons. 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.”

Part of this crude experience could be that Garland, while only being credited as the writer, was the real director of the film, despite Pete Travis being credited as the director.

“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,” star Karl Urban revealed to JoBlo. “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.”

Stay tuned for details on the Judge Dredd series.

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