Alex Garland’s Dredd suffered a terrible blow upon its theatrical release. With a budget of $50 million, it only generated $13.5 million domestic and took in a grand total of $35 million worldwide, making it a flop. Well, on paper at least.
Karl Urban, who played the Judge himself, explains in a new interview with Den of Geek, “Alex Garland has gone on record to say that Dredd was a Failure. I disagree. The movie itself was not a failure, in fact it was a critical success, it just failed to perform at the box office. How does a movie with a 78% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes fail? Through zero audience awareness. Nobody knew the movie was being released. ‘Dredd’ represents a failure in marketing, not filmmaking.”
Urban continues to explain that the film, “…sold 750,000 units, in North America, the first week it went on sale on DVD“, which shows that there is significant interest. Furthermore, word-of-mouth probably helped a great deal as the movie really was a fantastic experience, at least in my opinion.
Originally planned as a trilogy, the box office failure of Dredd ensured that we wouldn’t be seeing a second, much less a third film any time soon. But that doesn’t mean that people should lose all hope.
“But the success it has achieved in all post-theatrical mediums has definitely strengthened the argument in favour of a sequel. But it’s not an easy sell. I’m constantly blown away by the fan support and love for Dredd,” explains Urban. “I get stopped and asked about Dredd most days, I find it strangely ironic that to get recognised and associated with a character whose face is largely obscured behind a helmet.”
There’ve been rumors swirling around that both Netflix and Amazon were in conversations for a Dredd original series. When asked about this possibility, Urban stated, “I’m amenable to being involved in any legitimate and worthy follow up to Dredd, whether it be another theatrical release or a Netflix/Amazon targeted production. I think the best thing that fans can do is to continue be vocal about their support. Organise more fan screenings of ‘Dredd’, that’s one of the key factors that helped ‘Blade Runner’ find its true audience.”
No matter what the path is for more Dredd, Urban’s enthusiasm for the character and his view of the devoted fanbase is exactly why he was the perfect choice for the role.
“I would be blessed and it would be a privilege to make another Dredd. I feel so incredibly grateful to the fans of this movie.”
