‘Dredd’ Update: News, Images and Interviews

This article is mainly about the newest news and updates about the Dredd film being released 21 September 2012 in the UK (other regions not confirmed yet) sadly we are still waiting for any trailers or teasers, but for more of a back story we would suggest looking at a previous article by The Atheist Girl here.

The story of Dredd takes place on a fictional Earth created as a result of the Atomic Wars. Survivors of this period are living in Mega-Cities, which protects its citizens from the Cursed Earth, a radioactive desert environment populated by mutants. The main story takes place in Mega-City One, where Judge Dredd (Karl Urban), a senior law enforcement officer, teams up with a cadet called Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) to track down a terrorist organization lead by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), who is responsible for selling a reality-altering drug called Slo-Mo.

The newest development for Dredd would be the original Judge Dredd creator John Wagner sharing his thoughts on the film which he has already seen in its finished form. I do like it when the creators of comic books having substantial involvement in a film adaptation. And hopefully we will see some great improvement from the original, although I will miss Stallone’s ridiculously funny performance.

“I went up to London yesterday to see the completed Dredd film. I’ve had reservations about certain aspects of it, and made them plain to the team at DNA. All but one of them – a little quibble at the beginning – have been addressed. And what a lot they’ve added. Music is on the button. SFX are excellent. Filming is impressive. I’ve not seen a modern 3-D movie before but I like it. I found myself reaching out trying to touch things that were dancing before my eyes. Karl is a great Dredd and Olivia gets Anderson completely. This is Dredd as it should be done – true to character, visceral, unrelentingly violent (but not off-puttingly so). It will open, I believe, sometime in September. No doubt you’ll let me know what you think when you’ve seen it, but this has my recommendation.”

From the sounds of it John Wagner has had a great deal of input to the production and post-production process and should be interesting to see the finished version which is approved by its creator.

“The quibble: The use of modern day vehicles in a futuristic setting. Given the budget constraints it is hard to see what they could do to avoid it. It’s no big deal, really. It’s over quickly and once you’re past that it’s full steam ahead into Dreddworld. If this film does well we can expect the budget on the next to increase, therefore more money for such SFX. And just consider, on a budget effectively less than a fifth of the Stallone piece they’ve managed to make a movie far more representative of the character and strip we all know and love.”

This concern is very small and I do not think that it will take anything away from the films authentic feel. Considering the small budget I am glad that money wasn’t wasted on flying cars or massive explosions which make no sense… Cough Total Recall 2012 cough.

Now we have some pictures of the two main characters and an interview with Game of Thrones star Lena Headey about her role in the new Dredd film by LA Times. She certainly paints a dark and bloody picture which is making this film look better and better.

Her role as the scar-faced villainess Madeline “Ma-Ma” Madrigal in Dredd

“She’s a prostitute who then kills her pimp and takes over his drug-running business,” says Headey of her role. “And Ma-Ma is a bit of a man-hater.”

“I think of her like an old great white shark who is just waiting for someone bigger and stronger to show up and kill her,” continues the “Game of Thrones” star. “She’s ready for it. In fact, she can’t wait for it to happen. And yet no one can get the job done. She’s an addict, so she’s dead in that way, but that last knock just hasn’t come. This big, fat, scarred shark moving through the sea and everyone flees and she’s like, ‘Will someone just have the balls to do it? Please?”

Now we have some fantastic new images from Dredd, courtesy of ComicBookMovie.com

These explosive shots taken from the film are looking great and show us a lot more aggressive footage.

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.

I have managed to find some actual footage of the film however short still show some possibly spoilerific leaks… nah not really check out below:

Wow he certainly doesn’t waste time with the whole Judge, Jury and Executor.