Despite earning the praise of the character’s fans (and not only, since the movie stands at 78% on Rotten Tomatoes), the 2012 Dredd reboot flopped at the box office. On a rather small budget (considering the huge numbers invested in other superhero flicks) of $50 million, Dredd made about $35 million worldwide.
And that is mainly because of the star Karl Urban, who played the character to perfection. However, despite the fans, and despite Urban’s actively searching for an investor for it, a Dredd sequel is still far away from actually happening. It’s not seen as a safe investment, given the very poor returns of the first movie and the character’s limited fan base.
Most recently, at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, the star said that conversations are happening about continuing the story of the futuristic cop. However, it won't be in big screen sequels, but on Netflix or Amazon. So what does that mean?
First, it means that Urban is ready to reprise his role - as he’s repeatedly stated. But the fans shouldn't get their hopes up, because having a conversation doesn't necessarily imply positive answers. And the fact that Urban's latest TV series, Almost Human, was pulled out after just one season should make us wonder.
Furthermore, there is one other comic book character who acts as judge, jury, and executioner coming our way on Netflix, a comic book character with a much larger fan base. And since the Punisher will debut on Netflix, we can assume that Dredd won't be added to their lineup.
And lastly, let's be honest - when was the last time an Amazon-produced series attracted record-shattering audiences?
Dredd was amazing, and it bummed us out when we saw that it didn't reach the necessary audiences. And, even with Karl Urban fighting for a sequel, or at least a TV series, the former will never happen, while it isn't the perfect time for the latter.
What do you think?
