Rebellion CEO Explains Why ‘Dredd’ Sequel Progress Is “Slow, Slow, Slow,” But Promises “We’re Making Progress”
John F. Trent
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Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley recently explained why it’s taking so long for the company to get a sequel to the cult classic film Dredd starring Karl Urban up and running.
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Reliance Entertainment
Speaking with Sports Illustrated in August, Kingsley told the outlet, “I have been working for years on trying to find the right business partner for that.”
As for why it’s taking so long to get a deal done and get to work, Kingsley explained, “We’ve had conversations with all the big players. Conversations are still ongoing. But the terms that we’re being asked for, we can’t support. They’re not how we want to work.”
Nevertheless, Kingsley was optimistic, “So we’re getting there. We’re making progress. But it’s slow, slow, slow. So yes, I want to get some more of it done. Obviously, I want to do cool stuff. There’s nothing to announce yet.”
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Reliance Entertainment
Kingsley would later elaborate on what is specifically holding up a potential sequel, “One of the things I think sometimes the general public doesn’t understand is how much work goes on behind the scenes, how many false starts, and how many hours you spend negotiating with somebody only to reach a point where you actually can’t conclude a deal.”
“You can’t agree because it just wouldn’t work for the legacy that is the archive of material we’ve got. We’re not going to sell Judge Dredd to people basically, and people want to buy it. That’s what it comes down to. I’m afraid that won’t work for us. No, we’re the guardians of this IP,” he explained.
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Reliance Entertainment
The Dredd film grossed only $13.4 million at the domestic box office and another $28 million for a global gross of $41.4 million when it premiered back in 2021.
The movie had a production budget of $45 million. Meaning the film lost a significant amount of money. However, the film would find an audience as its DVD and Blu-ray sales nearly raked in half as much as its overall box office haul.
The-Numbers reported the film’s domestic DVD sales raked in $11.7 million while its domestic Blu-ray sales brought in another $10.1 million for a total of $21.9 million.
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Reliance Entertainment
Rebellion was also developing a Judge Dredd TV series titled Judge Dredd: Mega-City One. Back in 2018, Variety reported the company had purchased a new warehouse that they planned to convert into a studio space for the series.
Urban was in discussions to reprise the role of Judge Dredd in the series. During an appearance at the Star Trek Las Vegas Convention in 2017 he said, “I am in discussion with them about that. I told them if they write the material and give Dredd something to do and give him a function, I will be there. I would love to.”
The series’ producer Brian Jenkins also commented on having Urban return as Dredd, “We have had many conversations prior to this, about all sorts of things. He’s also very busy, a full-time professional actor. So we’re going to have some long and complicated conversations I would imagine, and we’ll see where we go. It’s too early to tell yet, but if we can use him and he’s available to us, then I think that would be absolutely brilliant. There’s always a possibility he will be busy, or that his schedule for other movies won’t allow- Basically, we don’t know at this stage.”
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd and Olivia Thirlby as Judge Anderson in Dredd (2012), Reliance Entertainment
The series was eventually put on hold due to the pandemic back in 2020. Kingsley explained to Radio Times back in 2020, “I want there to be a sequel [to 2012 movie Dredd]. We’ve got the rights back so we can do it, we’ve just got to get rid of this virus thing that’s going on at the moment, and then hopefully things can kick off in all sorts of different areas of making film and TV, it’s just– it’s all very messed up at the moment for everybody.”
“A lot of work as been done on all sorts of different scripts actually, so Mega-City One the TV show,” he added. “Basically we can’t go into production because of the [coronavirus pandemic] and we’ve got scripts and everything is ready to go but the problem is, because of the pandemic and everybody’s funding changes and everybody’s shifting around.”
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Reliance Entertainment
What do you make of Kingsley’s explanation? Are you optimistic we might see a Dredd sequel with Karl Urban reprising his role?
NEXT: New Rumor Claims To Reveal Main Character For Judge Dredd: Mega-City One TV Series
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