Alex Garland Has No Interest in Writing/Directing ‘Dredd’ Sequel

"Dredd" was a reboot of "Judge Dredd," a terrible ‘90s action movie starring Sylvester Stallone. What we got instead with 2012's "Dredd" was a genuinely visionary film. Paul Leonard's exalting techno soundtrack gave the film an avant-garde edginess that fit perfectly with the film's atmosphere. The 3D was also second to none. Using color and the best use of slo-mo I could recall in ages, ”Dredd” was incredibly singular in its vision. 

Let us not forget that the screenplay was written by Alex Garland, a screenwriter who burst into the directorial scene in 2015 with his brilliant "Ex-Machina." His lean, mean work on “Dredd” had none of the superfluous tropes that would hamper down most of the action movies we see today. I also can't fail to mention Karl Urban ("Star Trek Beyond) who played a great, nasty hero as the titular character himself.

Now, what if I told you that credited director Peter Travis didn't direct the film and that it actually was Garland? That's what Urban told JoBlo two years ago. A “Dredd” sequel directed by Garland is something that’s been high atop our must-see lists ever since.

However, it does sound like Garland is just not that interested.

In a recent interview at New York Comic Con, Garland made it quite clear to ScreenGreek that he does not want to repeat that time in his career:

No. It was a pretty crude experience, for a bunch of reasons. At the end of it, I didn’t want to go back. I love ‘Dredd,’ by which I mean I love the character, but I’m not in any hurry to do that again.

I wrote this a few years ago about “Dredd.”

Despite critics missing the boat by giving it mixed reviews and it completely fizzling at the Box-office, "Dredd" has become a cult classic over time with a solid, loyal fan-base that has basically become a monster in itself. You can thank home-video for that and streaming services as well. I can understand the fascination with the film. It is such a re-watchable film. Hell, I remember being sent a copy of the DVD by the studio and seeing it around 5 or 6 times in a span of a few months, which is a LOT for me, I rarely re-visit a film that soon. Why and how has this cult fanbase happened? Because "Dredd" is not just an artful piece of work, but it's also just a damn entertaining film. 

Urban has mentioned countless times that he is very interested in making a sequel. This all leads me to the rather disappointing news that Fox seems to have turned down the script for a potential second chapter. Its co-creator John Wagner spoke to ScreenGeek last year about recently pitching Garland's screenplay, "Judge Death," to FOX:

“That was actually the first script that Alex Garland did was a Judge Death script but Fox, who they were dealing with at the time, turned it down. They wanted more nuts and bolts before they went into the [metaphysical].”

For the time being there are fan petitions for a sequel a bit everywhere on the web, most notably "Bring Back Dredd," which has gathered in bed 200,000 signatures thus far [Link].