Taika Waititi's Judge Dredd reboot

[Mr. Entertainment]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mov...ie-1236311752/

Those two names have studio heads and executives sitting up this week as one of the hottest packages of the year hits the Hollywood marketplace.

Waititi, the Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit filmmaker, is attached to direct a new feature film take on Dredd, the popular and violent British comic book character.

Drew Pearce, the scribe known for his action movie-filled resume thanks to titles such as Fall Guy and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, is attached to write the script.

Producers include Dredd rights holders Chris Kingsley, Jason Kingsley and Ben Smith of Rebellion Developments, Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, Jeremy Platt, Natalie Viscuso and Pearce.

Sources say Pearce and Waititi both grew up with the books and are friends who have been trying to find a project to work on together for years.

Created in the late 1970s by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, Dredd debuted in the pages of weekly British anthology 2000 AD. He is a police officer in the bleak future metropolis of Mega-City One, part of a law enforcement corps that empowers officers to be judge, jury, and executioner. The character and his stories were a satire on a judicial system taken to the extreme. Dredd proved hugely popular, engendering several more comics and comics strips, video and board games, books, and even postage stamps in the United Kingdom. It is said that over 100,000,000 comics and graphic novels have been sold.

The character was given the glossy Hollywood treatment in 1995 with a big-budget adaptation that starred Sylvester Stallone. It was poorly received. More warmly was the reception for Dredd, a 2012 adaptation that starred Karl Urban with a script by Alex Garland, the writer behind 28 Days Later, who also wrote and directed Civil War.

The logline is being kept under the visor, but the pitch is said to take inspiration more from the comics than the previous screen iterations, leaning into the world-building and dark humor. It is also meant to be a fun sci-fi blockbuster that nonetheless speaks to this moment in culture. The desire is to see the movie launch a Dredd universe that could be explored with additional movies and shows across various platforms.

Just like every director says about their reboot "we're going to be more comic accurate this time"!

[Andrew NDB]

I was mildly enthused about that Mega City One TV show that was going to happen with Karl Urban occasionally popping into it reprising the role. But this, a Taika Waititi reboot?

Fu** no.

[Mr. Entertainment]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I was mildly enthused about that Mega City One TV show that was going to happen with Karl Urban occasionally popping into it reprising the role. But this, a Taika Waititi reboot?

Fu** no.

Taika only has the rights as far as I know. He needs to have a studio finance his project before it can officially happen.

[IMJ]

It's going to fail.

[Mr. Entertainment]

Originally Posted by IMJ

It's going to fail.

If it gets made. It's in the same boat as The Last Ronin "movie" - a pitch that won't go anywhere.

[Autbot_Benz]

Taika can’t do any worse to Dredd as he did Thor can he?

[Mr. Entertainment]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

Taika can’t do any worse to Dredd as he did Thor can he?

Judge Dredd has much more of a cult fan base than a character like Marvel's Thor. There's going to be a lot more of a pushback on this then you'd expect a character like Thor would.

[Andrew NDB]

And it's like, I hear "Taika Waititi's Judge Dredd" and in my head I believe with relative certainty I can imagine EXACTLY what that would be like. EXACTLY. I think most people familiar with his "work" can. And it wouldn't be good.

[Mr. Entertainment]

I think doing a reboot this soon as well is a bad idea. I mean, there are people that still think Dredd 2 was going to be a thing (it wasn't ever).

And now this announcement quenches the idea of even a TV series set in the same universe.

To me, if they couldn't succeed with a movie or be able to fund a TV show, why not do another video game? I don't know the sales on Dredd vs Death, but I assume it did decent enough to warrant a Rogue Trooper game thereafter.

It's a golden opportunity too since Robocop (who's a Dredd-esque character) just came out with a recent game. Come on Rebellion!

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Mr. Entertainment

Judge Dredd has much more of a cult fan base than a character like Marvel's Thor. There's going to be a lot more of a pushback on this then you'd expect a character like Thor would.

It definitely has a cult following but even that cult following is so small and obscure that it can't carry this franchise.

Judge Dredd is generally about as useless on-film as Hellboy. It's gonna fail.

It's made even worse by Watiti who I think everyone is just basically over.....

[Mr. Entertainment]

Originally Posted by IMJ

It definitely has a cult following but even that cult following is so small and obscure that it can't carry this franchise.

In America, sure. Britain is a whole 'nother story. But I get what you're saying, I enjoy the 2000 AD stuff, but I think their characters are too esoteric with a wider audience.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Mr. Entertainment

In America, sure. Britain is a whole 'nother story. But I get what you're saying, I enjoy the 2000 AD stuff, but I think their characters are too esoteric with a wider audience.

Well, hell - on that point look at Valerian. That movie was a visual masterpiece and cherished amongst French and U.K. comic collectors. It was masterfully directed by Luc Besson of all people and truly gorgeous throughout.

Flop.

It would make sense that Dredd would have a heftier following in Britain, for sure. But... I mean... honestly... how big could it be? It would take a few thousand people just to do a "Judge Dredd con" and I've never heard of something like that. Hell, Karl Urban's Dredd opened in the U.K. with under 2 million and they considered that a success. The point only being that is Dredd more popular in Britain? Sure, maybe yeah. By any numbers that actually matter? No. I mean... again, England is only the size of Louisiana so honestly, how big could that "cult following" actually be?

Judge Dredd. Hellboy. All of those kinds of properties are best as D2DVD, or maybe even T.V. series or something.

[Autbot_Benz]

Originally Posted by IMJ

Well, hell - on that point look at Valerian. That movie was a visual masterpiece and cherished amongst French and U.K. comic collectors. It was masterfully directed by Luc Besson of all people and truly gorgeous throughout.

Flop.

It would make sense that Dredd would have a heftier following in Britain, for sure. But... I mean... honestly... how big could it be? It would take a few thousand people just to do a "Judge Dredd con" and I've never heard of something like that. Hell, Karl Urban's Dredd opened in the U.K. with under 2 million and they considered that a success. The point only being that is Dredd more popular in Britain? Sure, maybe yeah. By any numbers that actually matter? No. I mean... again, England is only the size of Louisiana so honestly, how big could that "cult following" actually be?

Judge Dredd. Hellboy. All of those kinds of properties are best as D2DVD, or maybe even T.V. series or something.

Honestly surprised they haven’t tried Hellboy on a streaming service