Karl Urban Says DREDD Will be Much Grittier than Stallone's Version

Karl Urban has been busy promoting his next film, Red, but took some time to give updates on the Judge Dredd comic book adaptation simply called Dredd. Production starts in South Africa in late November/early December with Pete Travis (Vantage Point) directing.

Urban (Star Trek) has always been a fan of the character saying he's been reading Judge Dredd comics since the age of 15. The film adaptation won't center around any particular story line from the comic books.

"It is kind of based on an amalgamation of stories" he explained. "It's a day-in-the-life of Dredd as he gets to put his rookie - Anderson - through her paces. It's going to be hardcore."

"It's going to be much more gritty, much more real - the environment, Mega City One, is going to feel like a real city. It's not going to feel like a Hollywood back-lot. There will be no gold cod-pieces, and we're definitely going to stay faithful to the way that the character was originally conceived and written. He'll keep helmet on."

Urban also pointed out that this version will differ greatly from the 1995 version starring Sylvester Stallone.

"I read an interview that Stallone had given, and by his own admission, he said that he felt that his Judge Dredd movie was a missed opportunity.

"It's not really for me to voice my opinion as to what didn't work in the movie for me, but I can say that our version is in no way related to that - it's a different beast."

Synopsis:
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 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.