After recently reporting that Scottish producer Andrew Macdonald (Trainspotting) was trying to find a buyer for his planned Judge Dredd movie in Cannes, it appears that things have not only gone well for him, but shot forward; as there is now an official start date for the picture, and a filming location.
The film, which as been scripted by 28 Days Later’s Alex Garland, will ignore the disappointing 1996 film that starred Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) as the titular Judge, and adhere much more closely to the original 2000AD (the British comic where Dredd first appeared) stories. The script has even received the support of Dredd’s co-creator John Wagner, who vocally “hated” the first movie, and says that Garland’s is “faithful to the original concept that made Judge Dredd a bad-ass hero”, providing a real “ride through the dark underbelly of the vast future city” that gives him “every faith in Alex Garland.”
There’s no word on any prospective cast members as of yet (although it’s a pretty safe bet that Stallone won’t be taking up the role of Dredd for a second time); the projects relatively small $45 million budget also rules out most big-name candidates; but what is certain, is that whoever lands the role of Dredd (and any supporting parts for that matter) will begin filming in the last quarter of this year, in Johannesburg.
