The new Judge Dredd television series is setting up shop near Oxford, England.
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Rebellion Developments, the video game publisher that also owns and publishes 2000 AD, has purchased a former printing press for The Daily Mail outside of Oxford. Rebellion is turning the site into a film and television studio that will also house 2000 AD. The site is said to be valued at $100 million.
The new studio will serve as the filming location for two projects based on 2000 AD characters, the TV series Judge Dredd: Mega-City One and Duncan Jones’ Rogue Trooper movie.
The site will also be offered to third-party productions as well. Studio space is in high demand in the UK, with many other studios undergoing major expansions. With 220,000 square feet and a 25,000-square-foot sound stage, Rebellion’s new studio will be able to offer shooting space before those expansions are complete.
Rebellion Developments created the Sniper Elite series of video games. It’s also developed games based on the Alien vs. Predator franchise and games based on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper. Its most recent releases include Battlezone and Arca’s Path.
Rebellion purchased 2000 AD in 2000. Jason and Chris Kingsley are the founders of Rebellion and were producers on 2012 movie Dredd, which starred Karl Urban as Judge Dredd. The Kinglseys say they were inspired to purchase this new space partly because they need room to pursue future film and television projects like Mega-City One and Rogue Trooper.
“We’ve got a huge library of good stories, and we’ll do original stuff as well,” Jason Kingsley tells Variety. “We make computer games. VFX is an area we are looking at as well. There is a whole bunch of interesting stuff, but you do need the craft skills and you need facilities…and it is hard to find them. We were looking and couldn’t find anywhere to shoot the stuff we have ambitions to do.”
“We’re seeing more big players wanting to get in on the action,” Chris Kingsley added. “This is very exciting for the domestic and global film industries, but it’s also meant that our infrastructure is under increasing pressure.”
With the Purchase of 2000 AD, Rebellion came into possession of 130 years worth of superhero, science fiction, and fantasy characters and intellectual properties.
“We have plans, we have a lot of scripts in development, we have got a lot of scripts written, we have pilots that are looking for people to work with, we have people going out to the U.S. to talk to the people who are the routes to market,” Jason Kingsley said.
Are you excited to see more television and films based on 2000 AD? Let us know in the comments!
