Karl Urban Squashes Dredd 2 Development Rumors

Over the past couple of days, various sites have been reporting that Dredd 2 was moving forward, specifically using the terms “moving forward” and “in development” to describe the project. They were drawing this information from a Denver Comic Con panel in which Karl Urban was asked, with some apparent snark, if he would sell out and take on a poorly written Dredd 2 if they paid him enough. He joked around a bit, saying he did need a new house, before then reportedly revealing the information that Dredd 2 was “in development.”

Now, I can’t find a transcript of the panel where he said this, or a video, but if he did use the term, he’s now walking it back. That’s right, Karl Urban just posted a Dredd update to Twitter in which, well, see for yourself:

Dredd update : Unfortunately a sequel is no closer to happening , options have been discussed but there is no sequel in ” development ” . — Karl Urban (@KarlUrban) June 22, 2016

Which is too bad, because despite not delivering on the box-office front, Dredd was a lot of fun, especially considering it was basically a sci-fi version of The Raid. Urban, in particular, was great, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him return to the role.

Urban’s Explanation of Why Dredd Bombed

Last month, in an interview with Yahoo, Urban was pretty candid about why he felt Dredd failed at the box office.

“Dredd represented a failure in marketing. I saw the tracking of that film weeks before it came out and the fundamental problem was no one knew it was being released. I think the film had a huge disservice done to it.”

And as evidence to support his theory, Urban pointed out the impressive performance of Dredd once it was released to DVD:

“Once it came out on DVD and it sold 750,000 copies in the first week alone in North America alone, it was very clear that the audience had discovered it.”

This is also likely where the seeds for the rumor of a Dredd 2 sequel were planted, when Urban touched on his desire for a sequel:

“I’m amenable to being part of a legitimate and worthy follow-up to that film. I’m open to looking at any sort of limited exploration of that and in any medium… The fans are demanding to have more and it would be a real privilege to continue that story.”

So, yeah, for now, Dredd 2 is definitely still in the “Hopes and Dream” stage. Here’s to hoping it does actually head into development down the road. Sooner rather than later, please.

Featured Image: Lionsgate