Lovers of swift and violent justice dished out by a square-jawed pillar of righteousness take hope: there may be a Judge Dredd television show on the horizon. The Hollywood Reporter has it that the show, called Judge Dredd: Mega City One, has a pilot script in the can from writer Rob Williams, who’s written about Dredd’s adventures for years in the comic 2000 AD. Williams is the “creative lead” on Mega City One, and worked with a group of writers to map out the first two seasons.
For those unfamiliar, Dredd’s story takes place in a dystopian, massively over-crowded city where a rash of violence and crime has necessitated the creation of Judges, law enforcement officials with authority to act as judge, jury and executioner as needed. The comics have been adapted to film twice, once in a widely panned 1995 movie headlined by Sylvester Stallone, and again in 2012 in the criminally underseen Dredd. That version starred Karl Urban as Judge Dredd and Game of Thrones’ own Lena Headey as the villainous Ma-Ma.
Urban has expressed interest in returning to the role, telling a crowd at Star Trek Las Vegas that he’s “in discussions” about it. “I told them that if they write the material and give Dredd something to do and give him a function, I will be there. I would love to.”
Urban is definitely committed to the role. He was at a screening I attended in 2012 and knew Judge Dredd inside and out. He even admitted that his agent told him to turn the role down since it would require his face to be covered, but Urban wanted to mirror the comics as closely as possible.
Mega-City One is a partnership between IM Global Television and Rebellion Productions, which owns the Dredd property. Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley will serve as executive producer for the show. He’s psyched about it:
"I’ve read the pilot script by Rob and the team, and got that same thrill I did when I first discovered Judge Dredd. As we drive this project forward I’m always surprised by how much effort goes on behind-the-scenes to bring something like Mega-City One to the screen. I’m very pleased with how the whole project is coming together and looking forward to more exciting announcements in the coming months."
Series producer Brian Jenkins added his two cents: “It’s been really exciting to be working with Rob on the pilot. We have a really talented team here at Rebellion Productions and I’m really proud of them. Jason and I have been busy looking at locations and laying out season one as we gear up, to move forward into pre-production.”
The show doesn’t have a home yet, but for the sake of all the people who never got their Dredd sequel, we hope it finds one soon. As for shooting, we hear there’s some production space open in Belfast…
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h/t The A.V. Club, TrekMovie