Urban Karl edge fuel element new judge Dredd

So the word — the very advance word, mind you — is that this new movie version of Judge Dredd might not suck. Pete Travis (Vantage Point) is directing from a script by Alex Garland (Sunshine) and that’s enough of a pedigree, combined with the basic Judge Dredd backstory, to get me interested.

Now there’s word that Dredd could be played by Karl Urban, who isn’t a huge marquee name, but got audience attention in Star Trek and will be in Red and Priest. Would he make a good Dredd? Very possibly, yes.

Bleeding Cool says that Urban will be offered the role of Dredd. Which, of course, doesn’t mean he will accept. And if he does, will he remain helmeted for the entire film? A major component of Dredd’s character is that he is so devoted to the law that he’s always seen in uniform. The Sylvester Stallone film from 1995 had Sly unmasked for a great deal of the film. That caused some consternation among fans, but was only one part of the fact that the ‘95 film wasn’t even close to being up to snuff.

Urban hasn’t made it with his previous headlining roles (like Pathfinder and Doom) but neither of those were fair to pin on him, either. I think he’s got more potential than we’ve seen utilized — if Sam Worthington can be a star, so can Urban.

The Playlist was recently sent an unsolicited script review. (If anyone wants to send us the script, I wouldn’t mind.) The review generally praised the script, saying,

It’s a very action heavy script, with some amazing sequences that will make any Dredd fan happy…this is a gritty film, that plays the world we are in as a realistic future, a very dark, unpleasant crime ridden world as Dredd explains ‘Tweleve serious crimes reported every minute. Seventeen thousand per day. We respond to around six percent’. The famous ‘I am the law’ makes a few appearances….It never felt too long or too short, It’s just right. The pace is fantastic and if shot well would make for one visually stunning piece upon release.

• New Judge Dredd Movie Gets Financing; Pete Travis to Direct
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• /Film Visits the New Orleans Set of RED: An Interview with Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura

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