Empire Online is reporting that Karl Urban has been confirmed to take the lead role in the new Judge Dredd film. The confirmation came from producers Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich during a panel at Movie-Con. Macdonald said:
There’s been a change in comic-book movies; they were treated unseriously and now they’re treated seriously. We’ve cast a guy called Karl Urban to play Dredd. We’ll be shooting in Johannesburg, it’s being directed by Pete Travis, we’re shooting with the people who did District 9 – and if we get it right, Alex has a couple of ideas for other stories as well. It’s not based on any one comic, and John Wagner is involved in every decision.
“A guy called Karl Urban?” That’s how I’d describe a restaurant I was sure you’d never heard of. He may not be a household name, but when talking to a panel of movie nerds, I think you can just say “Karl Urban.” Macdonald also says this of the film:
Our idea is to make a very hard, R-rated, gritty, realistic movie of Dredd in Megacity, so we’ve got to get the tone right. He’s not going to take off his helmet.
I’ve never read any Dredd, but I’m gonna assume based on that last sentence that we never see the character without his head gear (like Belushi in the The Blues Brothers), and that fans hated the Stallone flic for this reason – among many reasons, I’m sure. Sometimes I like Urban, sometimes I don’t, but I never write him off beforehand. He’s found his way into some great films. So Dredd fans, what do you think? Is Urban a good choice?
24 comments
I think you mean like Dan Ackroyd in The Blues Brothers.
I didn't start reading Dredd stuff until long after the movie, and watching the movie again surprised me. I mean, it was a terrible movie, but they actually used quite a bit from the comic, so someone somewhere had actually done their research. Somehow, wasting that knowledge on a shitty movie to me seems more offensive than if it would have been COMPLETELY ignorant to the source material, like if it had just been a totally generic futuristic sci-fi film or even just a rip-off of Robocop with the Judge Dredd title slapped on it. I highly recommend the early Dredd comics (I'm still working my way up), as they certainly seemed to be a head of their time. The earliest stuff was written in the late 70's and early 80's but reads like a comic written today that satirizes the conventions of super violent stuff of the early 90's in a way that feels very Silver Age-y, which fits the 8-page serialized installments that it originally ran in. Dredd would often find himself in some sort of Batman-esque trap or scenario, and you'd have to tune in next Dredd Time, next Dredd Week to see how he got out of the jam. Also, Walter the Wobot HAS to be in this…
Yes! Great casting choice!
Now if the producers keep the hard R, and really get the tone from the comics right, then we just may have a reboot we can all be happy about.
Certainly better casting than Clooney as Sinatra.
But….you do see Belushi without glasses in one scene in BB. You mean Akroyd maybe?
Jon Hamm or Aaron Eckhart would have been the perfect choices. They both have the angular chins and the menacing voices too. Karl Urban is an okay choice, he's not what I would consider a strong actor, but I don't think Judge Dredd requires a strong actor in the role just someone who can deliver lines and point a giant gun.
Yeah, he's fine. Dredd was Clint Eastwood riff, not a Steroidal Stallone/Arnie clone. The D9 connection/aesthetic is damn interesting. MegaCity One with a dry dusty shithole vibe could be really good.
Ackroyd never takes his glasses off. Belushi never takes his hat off.
I grew up reading Dredd from the 1st issue of 2000AD and was dissapointed with the film (young Brit director & Big name Hollywood never a great mix) but they got quite a lot of the characters and look in there.
You don't have to do a "hard R" though to get the oppression and facism of Dredd across. Urban would make a good Dredd, I'm more concerned with whose writing this than anything else.
I'm so hard for the term "hard-R." More of these please. There are adults going to movies you know. (5th attempt, how hard is it to implement a captcha?)
To #1 and #5: Belushi never takes off his hat in the movie, but DOES take off his glasses. Aykroyd never takes off his glasses in either movie, but DOES take off his hat. Hence "headgear," in reference to Belushi, would be correct.
Urban sucks. He tries way too hard when he's trying to be 'serious guy'. Plus he's too slight and unimposing. Stallone would actually still be a great Dredd as long as he wasnt cast in a fucking comedy again. Diesel also.
Based on the title of your article I was prepared for the fanboy backlash on a BLACK Judge Dredd. Whew. Dodged a whiny fucking bullet on that one.
Stick to the original dark satrical nature of Judge Dredd and it will be a good film. Maybe use the 'Democracy' plotline or 'America'. Ignore the point of the comic and make another dumb action movie, but this time "gritty and realistic with a R rating", then you can fuck right off.
haha that picture! (Please copy the characters from the image above into the text field below. Doing this helps us prevent automated submissions)
@#12: Wrong.
#6, Marco – Jon Hamm doesn't have a menacing voice. I'm with on Eckhart, though. Not convinced by this casting, to be honest, but Urban occasionally brings the goods.
Comment #13—So you're saying that you have a problem with Donald Glover being "Judge Dredd"? Cracker…
Given the way Sly has gone with his recent pics (ie gritty, bloody, gory) I still think he's the best fit for this character. He just has that "jaw" that Dredd has. Urban doesn't unfortunately, he just doesn't look like he has the face for it.
"A guy called Karl Urban?" The guy was having a joke since we've known Urban is playing Dredd for weeks.
I was at the Movie-con and McDonald semed abit out of it throughout the panel. He kept looking up at the lights and staring at them. Just weird.
Anyways, he said the helmet would stay on throughout. They were not only reusing the same D9 SFX team but also filming it in South Africa but also on about the same size budget.#
He also mentioned John Wagner was helping them and this got a big cheer.
"Deploy gullet cannon!!"
I'm happy with this – but… not much of a jaw line. But just the line "not taking his helmet off" means that they may be going down the right path. I also like the idea that they stay mainly within a citi block, a 'small' film that can handle the not massive budget, but gives us some good Dredd characterization, some good action, and the developing character of Anderson….
Has Jon Hamm replaced Bruce Campbell as the geek's wet dream actor for every role? It seems like there isn't a single casting article where at least one person doesn't bring him up as being "perfect" for the role. Enough already.
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