New 'Judge Dredd' Movie Coming
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
"I am the Law!" Does that quote give you goosebumps or nightmares? Sylvester Stallone uttered those words as Judge Dredd in the awful 1995 sci-fi action flick, featuring Diane Lane as his partner, Rob Schneider as his comic sidekick, Armand Assante as the villain, and Max von Sydow as the Chief Justice. Now a new version of the British comic strip character will be coming to the big screen, with production scheduled to begin next year, according to an announcement at the 2000 AD web site.
Judge Dredd began life in the second issue of the magazine anthology 2000 AD. In a time when Judges are running a huge megapolis, Judge Dredd was empowered to enforce the law, sentence offenders, and carry out the punishment. The premise sounded ideal for adaptation, but the 1995 movie version, directed by Danny Cannon, was tired and generic; Schneider was especially annoying. It lacked any zip or zest; fans noted that Dredd never removed his helmet in the strip and, more importantly, complained that the dry humor was missing and the mythology was left out. Stallone himself feels that the film was "a real missed opportunity," and told Uncut magazine that "great potential" was wasted. "We shouldn't have tried to make it Hamlet; it's more Hamlet and Eggs."
The new version will be made by Rebellion and production company DNA Films; DNA also made 28 Weeks Later and Sunshine. No other details have been announced. Obviously, the right script and director are essential, but let's play "what if?" and try to imagine: who could be the next Judge Dredd? And does he need to keep his helmet on?
Girls on Film: Domestic Violence and Media
'Spider-Man 4' Villain Rumor: Rachel McAdams as Black Cat
Original A-Team Making Cameos in New Movie?
Is the 'Avatar' Budget Approaching $500 Million?_thumbnail.jpg)
Exclusive: Poster Premiere for 'Extraordinary Measures'
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
12-21-2008 @ 3:21PM
Kurt Munro said...
Haha! I called this in the comments within a week or so ago.
Great idea. Judge Dredd is too good a character not to have another movie about.
They better not mess around with the costumes X-Men style. That sucks.
Reply
12-21-2008 @ 4:14PM
mezzanine said...
I don't know a lot about the character, but I'd love for there to actually be a good movie based on him. How about Bruce Campbell or Gerard Butler plays him?
Reply
12-21-2008 @ 5:39PM
JackGonzo said...
If they keep the helmet on the entire time you could easily cast an unknown or some b lister to star in it if done right. Someone like Henry Rollins could be outside the box thinking, though Bruce Campbell could be interesting but I think most Bruce fans would be disappointed if it wasn't campy.
Though this could be the perfect opportunity for someone like Adam Baldwin to really break out.
Reply
12-21-2008 @ 6:13PM
CeciM said...
This is one of my fav "cult" classics! I too agree that Schneider was just a pain in the butt, get rid of that character! I can't stop thinking about Will Smith in this role, if they really want to make it a good one. It needs an actor with a lot of moxie, like Sylvester did it. And the costume shouldn't change, that's a classic, Keanu Reeves crossed my mind but he's too laid back to really pull it off. Adam Baldwin is getting too old, I love him, but no, he's not Judge Dredd, neither is Gerard Butler, whom I also love. Nope, I think Will could do it and make it memorable!
Reply
3-16-2009 @ 6:12PM
DreddLOC said...
WILL SMITH!?!?!?!?! Dredd wasn't black, Smith as Judge Giant maybe but never Dredd!! I agree with the casting of a relatively unknown. All he needs is the right looking jaw line and a voice like distant thunder rolling across gravel with a little lubrication! A fit older guy could easily pull off dredd. Infact he needs to have some maturity to make Dredd baleivable.
3-16-2009 @ 10:07PM
eagleray7 said...
What does it matter if Will is black? Judge Dredd is just a character, and will is plenty mature to pull it off. He's got more experience than Sylvester did at that time. How about Dwayne
Johnson? He'd fill those shoes real well. In any case, I don't agree that he should be an unknown, nowadays people are too shallow to get interested in a movie with an unknown starring in it. Look at the mess that happened with "Watchmen". Fantastic graphic novel, beautiful movie, but people who didn't know anything about it went to see it and came out talking trash. No, if this movie is going to be successful it's gotta start off with a star in the main role.
12-21-2008 @ 10:32PM
Rick Bman said...
oh come on... it just doesn't get any better then Stallone slurring "I am the law."
Reply
12-21-2008 @ 11:21PM
timmyb28 said...
Remember how awesome Diane Lane looked in those uniforms though. Yum. Movie was kinda crappy though.
Reply
2-03-2009 @ 2:08PM
Jon Cocco said...
How about Stallone? In a great version of the comics for once? Gerard Butler would work too I suppose. But why not Stallone? His Rocky return was a solid film. The man can act, unlike many of the action stars of the 90's.
Reply
2-18-2009 @ 4:01AM
Bheki Latha said...
I would also actually second a return by Stallone...
12-22-2008 @ 2:51AM
MXySTAFF said...
it should be none other than Gerald Butler
www.mxymag.com
Reply
12-22-2008 @ 8:19AM
filmsuki said...
Why was there so much hate for the Stallone flick? Fantastic sets - mind-blowing cityscapes for the time...I'd be hard pressed to find a better future dystopia in flim - memorable liners ("I AM DA LAHW!" "Eat recycled food...great for the environment, and okay for you") and a decent plot. It did not deserve all the critical panning...to think we missed out on the potential second film with Judge Death. :\
Reply
12-26-2008 @ 2:18PM
poobear said...
Jason Statham
If they go with the ball breaker from the orig comic. This mate should get the job.
Either Dredd, or cast him in a Captain Britain film, with a GOOD script, none of this hollywood shite.
Reply
12-23-2008 @ 6:55AM
bongo123 said...
best news ever!
Reply
12-23-2008 @ 5:33PM
hawaiianpunch said...
Really? Nobody mentioned the perfect Judge Dredd-alike: Vinnie Jones.
Reply
12-23-2008 @ 3:56PM
martin said...
I liked the stallone flick, didnt love it. Just great seeing
Judge Dredd on the big screen.
Hope whoever they have staring can bring more to him,
there's a sea of baddies to fight.
Be great if they do the sov block war, maybe throw in Judge
Death and everyones favourite P.S.I. Anderson to help him out.
Reply
12-23-2008 @ 7:08PM
DREDD said...
Judge Dredd should be played by either of the following...
RON PERLMAN
MICKEY ROURKE
GERARD BUTLER
Baring in mind that while Dredd is a british comic creation, he is an american character. Whoever said Vinnie jones and Stratham is as bad as casting Clooney as Batman.
That said, they would be good other Judges. I believe there was a place in that universe called something like Britanica.
Either way, this news has me salivating!!!!
Reply
12-26-2008 @ 12:00PM
David J. Williams said...
A reboot could be very interesting. The comic kicks ass, and it's a shame how badly they messed up the 1995 movie. For the love of God, let Dredd keep his helmet on, and don't let the movie descend into camp like the last one did.
Reply
12-26-2008 @ 4:03PM
drich90212 said...
Judge Dredd is one of the best comic characters ever created and needs to be done correctly
on screen. The key to the character is his lack of emotion; he's not a robot but his
personality is completely tied in with what is right or wrong in the eyes of the law. That's
the reason behind his catch phrase 'I am the law ', He has no regard for the other
trivialities of life like love - he only loves the law anything else has been burned from
his psyche or repressed. That's the point of the character and what makes him unique, he's
like a machine with no regard for even himself and he'll go to any degree to protect the law
of his city.
The screen writer of the original movie (William Wisher I think) had absolutely no idea
about how to portray the character. When it comes down to it - Dredd is simple to write when
you realize that he only has one real motivation, and all the comedy and absurdity in the
comic arise from his tunnel vision in following the letter of the law. Hes a man who IS a
machine - More than Robobop.
If you want an emotional center to a Dredd story - that will come from other characters like
Chopper, Anderson or PJ Maybe - not Dredd himself.
There are precedents onscreen of characters that we like but don't really 'Know ' - COLUMBO
being one example - it can be done, so there's no need for Hollywood to muck it up again.
Get Pat Mills Alan Grant or John Wagner involved with the script they're all geniuses.
Actor wise I think Clint Eastwood was the template but its too late for him now. Mickey
Rourke would be a better choice than Ron Perlman, either would be good. Bruce Campbell? On
looks alone the actor Richard Burgi would be a good choice - Look him up.
DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME
Reply
2-18-2009 @ 4:00AM
Bheki Latha said...
I disagree with the comments about Dredd being a machine. If you look at the way John Wagner evolved the character once he started writing him solo (after the completion of 'Oz'), most of your comments would seem unfounded. Your views are more akin to the way Alan Grant viewed the character and that's the very reason the writing partnership between the two ended - a direct result of the aforementioned storyline. Grant believed Dredd would simply blow Chopper away because Dredd is a fascist, a machine, etc. Wagner chose to humanize Dredd instead, without compromising his character, nature and personality, and as a result went on to produce some of THE best Dredd stories ever. EVER.
Dredd with depth, that's what Wagner created, and as a result made the character even more compelling. Dredd was originally conceived as a bastard and he's never lost that, but like the best bastards (I'm thinking of Jack Carter, Vincent (Tom Cruise in 'Collateral'), De Niro in 'Heat', Daniel Craig as James Bond and Wagner's own Harry Exton (Button Man)) it's those layers of complexity that make him an interesting character.
I thought Stallone was a good Dredd. What most people forget is that Stallone became known as a primarily action star by accident. He was a character actor before but the action movies overshadowed that. But he is actually a damn fine actor. The Dredd movie had quite a few things wrong with it. Stallone wasn't one of them. Interestingly, according to Alan Grant, the movie would never have been made if Stallone, a Judge Dredd fan, hadn't been involved.
So with a new Judge Dredd movie on the horizon(and my dream of making it crushed) who do I think would be good in the role? I don't know. I just hope that if they have to take off the helmet, they don't show the face, because that's what makes Dredd interesting, the way his helmet makes him unknowable, unreachable. He needs to be represented as someone who's a workaholic for the law, always on the prowl. It's not that he walks into a place and declares that 'I am the law', it's that wherever he is, where the law is being compromised, he becomes the law.
If someone stuck a Lawgiver in my face and told me to pick an actor, suddenly William Fichtner comes to mind, but my dream of Heath Ledger as Chopper going up against him will never come to be. But maybe my dream of someone, maybe Statham, with a scar across his lip, carrying a Soviet chip on the shoulder might just come to pass.