Hot off the success of the first ‘Star Trek’ movie, Karl Urban, who played Dr. “Bones” McCoy, took the lead role in ‘Dredd’ a cinematic reboot of the gritty ’80s comic book series. Even though ‘Dredd’ tanked at the box office, there were rumblings that a sequel would still be delivered, as well as a spinoff TV series ‘Judge Dredd: Mega-City One’. But there hasn’t been much buzz on either in quite some time. And according to Urban, those projects may be dead, although he reiterated that he’d be up to return, should things get moving.
Speaking to JoBlo.com, Urban said:
“I really don’t know much. I had a couple of preliminary meetings… gotta be a couple of years ago now, so it’s a long-gestating project. I’ve gone on record saying if I had the opportunity to get back in that world and explore more stories I’d be down for it. It’s crazy, it’s been a few years since that movie came out and one of the most commonly asked questions I get is, when is Dredd 2?”
In November, it was reported that a newly formed production studio, Rebellion, had been created to produce ‘Mega-City One’, and that a pilot script had been completed. Hate to say it, but it could be possible that the creators of the show aren’t interested in having Urban back, which would explain why he hasn’t been contacted regarding upcoming projects. But then again, maybe they are still developing it and aren’t ready to start casting.
In 2017, producer Adi Shankar vowed that more ‘Judge Dredd’ would arrive “someday.” It’s now been seven years. Is there really any demand at this point?
Pete Travis is credited as director, but according to Urban, Alex Garland provided most of the heavy lifting. Garland has since gone on to helm the acclaimed sci-fi films ‘Ex-Machina’ and ‘Annihilation’.
What do you think?
