2000 AD has announced that its most popular character, Judge Dredd, will return to the big screen.
According to the British publisher, the film has been green-lit and will go into production in 2009 with DNA Films, the company that worked on Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later. There is no word yet on casting.
In the release, CEO and Creative Director Jason Kingsley said, “We can’t give away too many details at this point, but we’re looking forward to working with DNA Films to bring Judge Dredd back to the big screen.”
Hopefully (and almost assuredly), this film will eclipse the last time Dredd hit the silver screen, in the 1995 Sylvester Stallone film. The almost universally-reviled film does have one amusing line, perhaps due to Stallone’s unique acting abilities.
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
This time we demand: KEEP THE HELMET ON ALL ALONG THE MOVIE!!!
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Exactly. No matter how high-profile the actor, put “wear the damn helmet” in the contract.
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
More than 20 years ago I met one of the producers of the then in the works Judge Dredd film and I told him that they should adapt the “Judge Death” stories. He thought that would be too weird for the first film. Instead they did a film which was a textbook example of making one wrong decision after another. Judge Dredd’s evil brother? Boring. There’s so much that film could have been but instead of being imaginative it was unimaginative and terrible. To call it a mess would be putting it mildly. It was so bad that it has taken 20 years for interest in the property to resurface.
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 am
OK, so this time, do not make it the secret origin of Judge Dredd. We don’t need to know how he came to be, what matters is that the character is down right. That means no taking off the helmet, no adjustment of his almost often fascistic attitude to make him more palatable as a hero. Keep the 2000AD style outfits. Adapt an awesome story that involves a few of the better known characters, like Anderson and the rest. Save Judge Death for another film, because like Batman’s badguys, he would dominate everything.
I’m actually quite excited about this. Beyond the wreck of the first Dredd film, 2000AD seem to know how to handle their properties without oversaturating the market with crap.
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Let him be British this time?
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:18 pm
JD was never British, wasn’t Mega City 1 the Eastern Seaboard?
British Comic, American character IIRC
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
greygor: exactly what I was going to say but you bet me to it
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Clancy Brown (Ron Perelman, 2nd because he’s already hellboy).
December 24th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Ah for a time machine – Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry days – the perfect Dredd.
How bout the Blockmania/ Apocalypse war storyline?
December 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
HELL YES!!! Lets see some Judge Death. And is it just me, or does the police dude from the upcoming star trek film remind anyone of Judge Death?
December 27th, 2008 at 6:02 am
As bad as the first Judge Dredd movie was, it’s a guilty pleasure movie for me (I have to admit it). To have Dredd leave the helmet on the entire time would definitely be ideal from a comic book stand point. Some one mentioned Clancy Brown (ol’ Lex Luthor himself…..god bless Bruce Timm’s brilliant and the amazing DC Animated Universe…better than another animated comic cartoons ever) and that would be a excellent choice, but do it like they did for the Hellboy movies for Abe Sapien. Get a body actor that fits Dredd’s build and have Clancy Brown provide the voice for him. I can actually almost hear it now. Maybe Clancy can utilize the same style he used in Starship Troopers.
December 27th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
jason statham. jason statham. jason statham.