A DREDD sequel could happen, with your help!
While the updated adaptation for Judge Dredd in the 2012 film starring Karl Urban and (the love of my life) Lena Headey didn’t manage to make back its budget, Urban himself claims that not all hope is lost for the franchise.
Poor timing for the cinematic release set the film up for a struggle at the box office last summer. By the time Dredd hit the big screen, audiences had already crashed from the high of comic book adaptations due to the triple whammy of The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. And let’s not get started on the typical consumer’s stubborn, foolish preconception that all comic books are for kids, so anything adapted from a comic with an R rating has tended to face lower sales and general trouble. Even more problematic was how close its release date was to The Expendables 2, setting itself up for competition that it couldn’t necessarily stand on equal footing with. While we applaud Mr. Urban for giving us a performance that is accurate and exciting, ousting Sly Stallone from the Judge’s helmet didn’t win the battle at the box office. Many people have made an effort to forget that Stallone’s rendition of Judge Dredd happened at all, which may be for the better but it did make re-introducing the character into the general public’s awareness more difficult. 3D continues to be an elephant in the room as well, with movie-goers becoming increasingly resistant to its presence no matter how genuinely a film’s aesthetics may benefit from it, as Dredd undoubtedly did. Even in spite of favorable reception at TIFF, people were preoccupied with bigger-name projects like Argo and its surrounding controversy. (Hey Ben, thanks for remembering that we helped too! Love from Canada.) With these factors combined, the film ended up with a net loss of approximately $11 million. Ouch.
However, there may be triumph over adversity. Dredd has attracted a cult following thanks to word-of-mouth and home media sales; going as far as to top the both Blu-Ray and DVD sales list and the digital downloads list for January 2013. It’s enough to have gotten the attention of the film’s creative team.
In an interview with Collider.com, Karl Urban states that returning to the role in some form is “not off the agenda. Clearly everyone has woken up to the fact that an audience has found this movie and loves it. It’s entirely possible, and if people want to see another installment then they should be vocal about that, because, it can happen. The power of fandom can resurrect projects.”
It goes without saying that money talks, and what is fandom but another word for loyal customers? With that in mind, here are some ways that you can support more Dredd being made and get your voice heard:
- Buy your own copy. Be it Blu-Ray, DVD, or digital; just make sure you acquire a copy with a legal monetary transaction. Buy some for your friends and family, too. Make a financial investment and make sure the people holding the purse strings have something to put in the purse!
- Tweet your heart out. Twitter is a priceless tool for breaking down the barrier between products and their consumers and creating pathways for open communication between the artist and the fan. Spread your love to Karl Urban, and especially to the film’s producer, Adi Shankar. Tell them what you want, and ask what it’ll take for it to happen. Another film? A TV series? Web series? Digital shorts? We’ll take it, whatever it takes!
- Tell the producers and distributors how you feel! Contact DNA Films, the production company behind the film. While you’re at it, send some nice words to Lionsgate, the distributors. It’s ultimately up to the executives to make things move, so we need to tell them what we, the fans, their profit margin, want to see. The more fans willing to step forward and contact the big guys, the bigger the ripples.
