Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Judge Dredd

9/7/10 – Blastr.com reported that the new Judge Dredd film has been shortened to simply DREDD.  DREDD takes 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 Pete 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.  As well as Karl Urban in the title role, DREDD will also star Olivia Thirlby, who has been cast as Cassandra Anderson, a character who has psychic powers that include being able to sense approaching danger, foresee events of the near future and telepathy.  No other cast has been announced yet. Preproduction for the movie apparently began Aug. 23 at Cape Town Film Studios in South Africa, and the movie will arrive in theatres in 2012.

8/19/10 -  Karl Urban, who last played Bones McCoy in "Star Trek," has come on board to play the title character of Judge Dredd, based on the British comic book character, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The comic is set in a future where police act as judge, jury and executioner. Urban will play Joe Dredd, the creme de la creme of the elite police corps.  The character is almost always seen wearing a helmet-mask and the producers have said Urban will be hatted through most of the movie.  Pete Travis is directing the independently financed feature.

7/23/10 - Karl Urban, who's been reading Judge Dredd comics for 25 years, promises to be faithful to the original.  "I can't say too much about it because we're in the very early process of locking it down and making it happen, but I can say that the producers behind this movie are being 100% faithful to the source material," Urban told movieline. "The creator is involved as a consultant, and the artist, Jock, who's done some incredible work ... he's also involved in the development stage. I can tell you that in no way, shape, or form is it related to any other movie that's come out called Judge Dredd."

5/11/10 - Deadline reports that a new Judge Dredd in 3-D is coming, written by Alex Garland and directed by Pete Travis.  Andrew Macdonald's DNA Films has made a deal with India-based Reliance Big Entertainment and IM Global to finance the movie.  Macdonald will completely overhaul the film and bring it back to its origins as the UK comic created by John Wagner and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra.  Dredd is set in a futuristic world filled with violence, and the character is empowered to act as judge, jury and executioner.

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