Judge Dredd Movie Newshttp://www.judgedreddmovienews.com/index.php#tool
This website was created by David Rigby to provide facts on the new DNA Films project (Judge Dredd 3D) currently in pre-production, and also on related media.
Based on the 2000AD comic Judge Dredd, the new film promises to be more faithful to the source material than the dreadful Sylvester Stallone flick. Content is from the site's 2010 archived pages as well as from other outside sources.
Dredd was released on 7 September 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 21 September worldwide. Critics were generally positive about the film's visual effects, casting and action, while criticism focused on excessive violence, as well as a perceived lack of the satirical elements that are found in the source comic.
My take: I caught Dredd (DVD) recently. It's a great remake done correctly. Dredd is filled with intense action and gruesome violence. I am a huge fan of films on dystopias and fortunately this did not disappoint. I had just come off a tough week at work. the e commerce site where I work in the IT department had come under a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack. We were scambling like crazy. It hit when one of the salespersons was finishing up taking a large wholesale order for a number of janitorial cleaning supplies including mop bucket with casters for a large hotel chain. One minute the site was zipping along receiving new janitorial supply orders and the next minute everything slowed down as if stuck on molasses. FYI: A denial-of-service (DoS) is any type of attack where the attackers (hackers) attempt to prevent legitimate users from accessing the service- in this case our e commerce website, CleanItSupply. In a DoS attack, the attacker usually sends excessive messages asking the network or server to authenticate requests that have invalid return addresses. Everything gets bogged down. It took several days, but we finally rerouted traffic and got back to business. The rest of the week was performing post-mortem analysis of compromised system. Being able to finally relax and watch an escapist movie like Dredd was perfect. If you love the Dredd comics then this will be mostly satisfying.
Dredd trailer 2012 - Official movie trailer in HD - starring Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby - directed by Pete Travis - based on the Judge Dredd character who first appeared in the British science fiction - in a violent, futuristic city a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.
Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd in this gritty adaptation of John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s classic comic.
Also starring Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.
Director: Pete Travis
Writer: Alex Garland
Producers: Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich and Alex Garland
Year: 2012
DNA is run by Andrew Macdonald and his producing partner Allon Reich and is one of the UK’s most successful production companies.
Productions include Dredd 3D, Never Let Me Go, The Last King of Scotland, Notes on a Scandal, 28 Weeks Later, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, The Beach, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave.
ABOUT
DREDD takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and the frenetic vision of director Peter Travis bring DREDD to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film that returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s revered comic strip.
DREDD INFO
Judge Dredd is the title character of a comic strip created in 1977 for the weekly science-fiction anthology comic 2000 AD. Designed by Carlos Ezquerra, the strip was principally ushered into life by celebrated artists Mike McMahon, Brian Bolland, and Ian Gibson who refined and defined the look of the Judge and his world -- a far future post-apocalyptic east coast America. Co-creator John Wagner has guided the strip throughout its history. For many years he wrote with Alan Grant who has since go on to write the spin-off character Judge Anderson.
The stories are mostly concerned with unusual or preposterous crime-fighting in Mega-City One -- an overpopulated, fantastical, future city where science-ficition tropes such as aliens, androids, mutants, and genetically or roboticly-enhanced humans rub shoulders. There is little attempt to rationalise or extrapolate the consequences of story elements such as time-travel, anti-gravity, or psychic ability, rather the stories remain tightly focused on plot, and on confronting a bizarre, liberal populace with the sterness of Justice Department. (Though it should be said that both citizens and Judges are capable of quite extraordinary violence.)
The Judge Dredd strip has spawned dozens of spin-off strips, and over twenty prose novels, twenty-two audio dramas, two board games, four role-playing games, a dozen video games, along with numerous t-shirts, action figures, toys, figurines, and many other collectable items. For several years Judge Dredd appeared as a daily newspaper strip. It has featured in almost every edition of 2000 AD (currently approaching 1700 issues), and every one of monthly comic Judge Dredd the Megazine (currently 300 issues).
++ NOTABLE EVENTS **
2066 - Dredd, an "accelerated clone", is effectively born at the age of five
2070 - Only the Mega-Cities of Earth escape destruction in The Atomic War
2071 - The Justice Department takes power
2079 - Dredd graduates from The Academy of Law, his brother Rico turns to crime and is sentenced to twenty years on the off-world Titan Penal Colony
2099 - Dredd's stories begin in the pages of 2000 AD — The Judge Killer
2099 - Rico returns and is executed by Dredd — The Return of Rico
2102 - Genocidal beings from another dimension arrive — Judge Death" & "Judge Death Lives
2104 - MC-1 is invaded by East Meg One (Russia), whole sectors of the city are destroyed, and Dredd wipes EM-1 off the map, nuking hundreds of millions of people. — Block Mania" & "The Apocalypse War
2106 - Dredd receives bionic eyes after his own were destroyed — City of the Damned
2113 - Citizens vote to keep Judges over a Democratic alternative — The Devil You Know
2114 - Robot Judges are field tested — Mechanismo
2117 - Dredd commands a Sector House in a seminal story — The Pit
2122 - A Dredd clone, Rico, graduates from the Academy — Blood Cadets
2128 - The last President of the USA is released from suspended animation — Origins
2132 - Now
Unlike many other comic characters, there is no definitive Judge Dredd tale, nor any "origin story", although the events that caused the post-apocalyptic world were explored in the 2006 flashback story "Origins". That isn't necessarily the best place for new readers to start, however, so if you only ever read one Judge Dredd story it should probably be the fan-favourite "America".
The 1995 Film
Fans of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, The Matrix, Alien/Predator, The Terminator, and Resident Evil may appreciate how movies can go painfully wrong, or how far they may deviate from the source material. Removing the helmet was the least of fans' concerns.
Further Reading
Bishop, David. Thrillpower Overload. Rebellion 2007
Jarman, Colin M & Acton, Peter. Judge Dredd The Mega-History. Lennard 1995
Butcher, Mike. The A-Z of Judge Dredd. St Martins Press 1995
STORY INFO
Rookie Cassandra Anderson's performance is poor, but the Chief Judge values her psychic powers, partnering her with Dredd in an attempt to knock her into shape. They bust a MA-MA CLAN gang member, and the three of them have to escape from Peach Tree Block, after the gang-leader, MA-MA, sets the entire block population on them.
A new drug, SLO-MO, gives users massively increased speed, providing Dredd & Co with very fast-moving targets. slows down users' perception so that everything around them appears to be in super slow-motion.
The entire film takes place in a timespan of no more than a day.
++ NOTES ++
The Peach Trees Block, Ma-Ma herself and the Ma Ma Clan, and SLO-MO are original creations for the film, having never appeared in the strip.
Peach Tree could be a reference to the Peach Tree War where natives from several tribes banded together to defeat their foe, just as the blockers band together to combat Dredd and Anderson.
SLO-MO is probably the core sci-fi element of the film, otherwise there'd be no need to set the "run the gauntlet" plot in a fantasy future.
It appears this story is sowing the seeds for the creation of PSI pision(Psychic and Psionic Judges), by having Anderson be the catalyst. From a storytelling point of view there's not much reason to set it up unless the Dark Judges are planned for a sequel. They are supernatural beings devoted to eradicating all life — about the only thing more opposed to freedom than Dredd — numbering amongst the very few repeat characters in the comic strip.
++ SNIPPETS ++
John Wagner (Dredd creator and Creative Consultant) has said 'It’s a high-octane slay ride through the dark underbelly of the vast future city. A fan pleaser.'
Alex Garner (Script-Writer) has said it has 'an emphasis on adrenaline and realism, but with all the scale and spectacle of Mega-City One.'
IMGlobal 'Judge Dredd 3D is set in a high-octane, dystopian future where state-endorsed enforcers act as judge, jury and executioner as they dispense justice. This journey through the dark underbelly of a vast futuristic city is based on the cult favorite 2000AD comic book character.'
NEWS
28 JUL 2010
Duncan Jones on Judge Dredd
Director, long time Dredd fan and all-round dude, Duncan Jones is interviewed on Man Made Movies about his breakthrough MOON, current project SOURCE CODE, and his thoughts on a Dredd movie. Here's the snippet.
I would have loved to do the Judge Dredd movie that is underway. I was in fact sent the script to look at. It's a great script, and I hope I will not rue the decision of passing on it. Thing was, I had such a strong idea of what I wanted to do with a Dredd movie, I could not bring myself to take it on and not do it my way! … and it's not like I could do it as a sequel either; my Dredd would have been really weird, and dark and funny, but not your traditional introduction to a hero character. I dont even know if I could have made my version of the film pitch-able. It was maybe too off the wall.
Jones had Twittered about an idea for the plot back in March
It’s a Dredd take on the film ‘Man bites Dog,’ & involves Death & the League of Fatties.
Definitely not "off the wall" — for the comic anyway.
26 JUL 2010
NZ's Reel Late Says Urban's Onboard
Sunday night's debut episode of Reel Late with Kate on New Zealand's TV3 featured Kate Rodgers interviewing Karl Urban, in which he stated he was onboard with the project. This is a significant though unsurprising step up from the apparent state of play last week. TV3 News reported:
The Wellington-born actor told TV3 movie show Reel Late with Kate that he had officially been given the role, saying: "Yes, it's true, I am the Law". He added that he was "thrilled to bits" about landing the role.
Kikis can view the show online here
23 JUL 2010
Karl Urban Addresses Rumours
MTV have a short video of Urban responding to the rumour at a San Diego Comic Con press conference for Red.
"I can't say too much at this point, but it's looking good. When I was a teenager I started reading Dredd — that was over twenty-five years ago — phenomenal, iconic, comic book character, so it's a world I know, and it would be a privilege and a pleasure to be able to bring that to life."
Choice quotes:
I’ve met with Pete Travis, Andrew McDonald and we’ve had a really wonderful meeting of the minds and long story short, they have offered me the role and we’re in the process of making that happen. You know, 25 years ago when I was working in a pizza parlor I was introduced to the character and the comic of Judge Dredd and it’s something that is pretty dear to my heart. To have the opportunity to play such an iconic and enigmatic character as Joe Dredd is a phenomenal opportunity and I’m really thrilled and looking forward to getting into it.
I believe it’s slated to start shooting in late October or early November in South Africa.
In response to a question about possible rating (R, PG-13) ...it’s my understanding that it's going to be harder, grittier, and above all faithful to the comic.
In the script to the film that Pete is going to direct it’s very faithful to the comic book character, now if anyone's familiar with Dredd they'll know that over the years there are many times where Dredd actually does removes his helmet but you never fully see his face and that was a construct by the creator, Mr. Wagner. He represents that faceless system of justice and law. I will say this, hypothetically if I went to a movie that was called “Judge Dredd” and the character or the actor who played Judge Dredd took that helmet off, and I would see his full face and all his features I would puke in my popcorn. 'Cause that’s not Dredd. He’s mysterious and enigmatic, and we’re gonna do it right.
This Dredd is not going to be wrapped up in ego. This Dredd is going to be faithful. The cool thing about Dredd to me was that with Dredd you always know where he stands. His attitudes are strong. What he does is strong. He is this iconic badarse tough lawman with great ironic witty one liners set in this futuristic post apocalyptic world. I’m very very excited about seeing this authentic and faithful adaptation of that character on the screen.. and that world.
21 JUL 2010
Karl Urban offered role of Judge Dredd
Karl Urban has been revealed as the prime candidate for the role of Judge Dredd. Urban's most notable genre roles have been as Julius Caesar in Xena Warrior Princess, Eomer in Lord of the Rings, and Doctor McCoy in the 2009 Star Trek reboot. He's also in the forthcoming Red.
20 JUL 2010
Script Report
There was a script leak three days ago. I believe there are two drafts floating around, and the most recent is dated June 24th 2010. The script was code-named "Peach Trees".
The Playlist has received a reader's report, revealing the plot to be similar to 16 Blocks (or Escape from New York, or The Warriors, or The Anabasis depending on your preference).
MEGA CITY ONE is plagued by a new drug, SLO-MO, it slows everything down and produces visually stunning images, with time that moves at one percent normal.
Dredd has a Rookie shadowing him for the night (CASSANDRA ANDERSON), she has some special abilities that the CHIEF JUDGE thinks could be very useful, however her JUDGE APTITUDE test score just put her below a pass. It’s up to DREDD to see if she has what it takes to be a Judge and one night to do so.
The pair investigate a multiple homicide in PEACH TREE BLOCK. A place run and controlled by the MA-MA CLAN. After busting one of Ma-Ma’s henchmen, Ma-Ma takes control and locks the entire place down, she seals the place with concrete shutters -- and no way out. Ma-Ma also tells everyone within the block to KILL THE JUDGES, or their families will suffer. Ma-Ma is the ultimate force in Peach Trees, more than the law, so everyone complies. Dredd and Anderson have to survive, holding onto their prisoner and trying to escape the block. They begin on the ground floor and work their way up the 200 or so floors.
There is a very cool sequence told from a junkie's POV high on SLO-MO, the cool visuals of melting images, vibrant colours and [a] slow raid by Dredd and Anderson will be very cool to see.
source:The Playlist
++NOTES++
If the film maintians comic continuity, then the timeframe is the 2090s, just before the comic strip begins, when Goodman was Chief Judge, during the mysterious first 20 years of Dredd's time on the streets. Anderson would be in her late teens, and Dredd in his late 30s without bionic eyes.
The SLO-MO drug appears to give users massively increased speed, providing Dredd & Co with very fast-moving targets. This is probably the core sci-fi element of the film, otherwise there'd be no need to set the plot in a fantasy future.
Rookie Judges are commonly those who have graduated from the Academy of Law but are yet to be granted full Street Judge status, although it can also refer to Street Judges in their first year on the beat during which time they are partnered with a more experienced Judge.
Cassandra Anderson was the first PSI Division Judge, and only the second female Judge to appear in the strip. Her psychic abilities are in the areas of telepathy and communicating with spirits. Her personality, like that of many in PSI Division, is irreverent and at odds with the stoic discipline of regular Judges. She has her own strip series, and remains a popular character.
Mega-City One city blocks are enormous structures each housing thousands of citizens. They are effectively mini-cities, and residents may never need to venture from them. In the comic strip the blocks are often named after present day celebrities.
22 MAY 2010
The Working? Title is...
Judge Dredd 3D has just been added to the list of projects on IMGlobal's site. Along with the following blurb:
Judge Dredd 3D is set in a high-octane, dystopian future where state-endorsed enforcers act as judge, jury and executioner as they dispense justice. This journey through the dark underbelly of a vast futuristic city is based on the cult favorite 2000AD comic book character.
Directed by: Pete Travis
Written by: Alex Garland
Produced by: Andrew Macdonald, Alex Garland, Allon Reich, Jason Kingsley and Chris Kingsley.
21 MAY 2010
I'm with Henry McDonalds Block
A snippet from Michael S Murphey who will be Co-Producing in South Africa with his company Kalahari Pictures.
District 9 producer Michael Murphy will be working on Judge Dredd, which is expected to feature star actors.
“My company is co-producing with Henry McDonalds, the producer from the UK who has made movies like 28 Days Laterand The Beach,” said Murphy.
I don't know who Henry McDonalds might be, but Andy MacDonald is the Producer with DNA Films.
19 MAY 2010
That Which Is Known
Production Company: DNA Films
Producers: Andrew McDonald, Allon Reich
Co-Producers: Jason Kingsley, Chris Kingsley
Co-Producer (South Africa): Michael S Murphey
Director: Pete Travis
Script: Alex Garland
Visual FX Producer: Michael Elson
Financers: Reliance Big Entertainment, IM Global
Pre-Production Artist: Jock
Budget: $45million
Cast: unknown
++ NOTES ++
There is no connection to the 1995 film. It is not a remake or a sequel.
The initial script was written prior to May 2009.
No production art has been made public.
Filming is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa in late 2010.
It will be released in 3D.
John Wagner, co-creator and main writer throughout the thirty-three year history of the character, is a Creative Consultant for the project. He has seen the script, commenting "it’s high-octane, edge of the seat stuff, and gives a far truer representation of Dredd than the first movie."
Alex Garland: "Andrew, Allon and I have developed this adaptation of Judge Dredd with an emphasis on adrenaline and realism, but with all the scale and spectacle of Mega-City One. We think Pete’s propulsive, edgy style is a perfect match for the project."
++ TIMELINE ++
2008-12 - Rebellion announces a deal with DNA Films to create a Dredd movie.
2009-05 - Jock revealed to be working on visuals from an Alex Garland script.
2010-05 - DNA Films secure financing with Reliance BIG Pictures and IM Global. Pete Travis announced as Director. Filming scheduled for late 2010 in Johannesburg.
++ RUMOUR CONTROL ++
Three paintings by Jock in January 2009, reported far and wide as "concept art" were done purely for fun, though Jock subsequently became attached to the project. No official work has been publicly seen.
Tim Bradsteet's image of Dredd, reported as coming from Cannes, has no connection to the film, but is the cover to the first volume of a US only collection entitled "Mega-City Masters".