Could Karl Urban still come back as Judge Dredd? Dredd 2 is officially dead, but the world of Judge Dredd is set to continue on the small screen. It was recently announced that a Judge Dredd TV series, officially titled Judge Dredd: Mega-City One, is in development. According to one of the show’s producers, Karl Urban could be back as the title character, if all goes well.
The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast recently spoke to the creative team behind Judge Dredd: Mega City One, including producer Brian Jenkins. At one point, he discussed Karl Urban’s potential involvement, saying that, if his schedule allows, it is definitely on the table. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“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 played the character in 2012’s Dredd 3D, and there has been a ton of support for him to reprise the role. Dredd has become a truly beloved modern action movie, but it, unfortunately, bombed at the box office, only to find a dedicated fanbase later. The movie only grossed $35.6 million on a $50 million budget. That has made the hoped for Dredd 2 an impossibility, even though Karl Urban has publicly championed the project quite a bit. That said, since he seems to have a fondness for the role, it seems like he would at least be open to coming back for Judge Dredd: Mega City One.
As Brian Jenkins points out, Karl Urban is a busy man, and that could get in the way. He is currently playing bones in the Star Trek franchise, which has a fourth installment probably on the way. He is also playing Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok and, though that is done filming, he will probably be coming back in a future Marvel movie, assuming his character lives. The good news is, he only has one project in pre-production on IMDB, which is a movie called Entry Level. Depending on when Mega City One comes together, that could leave the door open for him to put the helmet back on and be the law once more.
Judge Dredd: Mega City One doesn’t currently have a network attached, but the project is being developed by IM Global and Rebellion. It is also said that the show will center around a group of Judges, as opposed to just Judge Dredd, so that could help alleviate the workload and make Karl Urban’s involvement a more real possibility. The good news is, at least for now, it is on the table.