After a brief teaser yesterday, the first full trailer for Dredd has arrived, and while the Judge himself looks pretty badass, the jury is still out on the movie itself. Dredd takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilisation on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. It’s a tough world, and one that’s hopefully going to be better than when Stallone was in charge. Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby and Domhnall Gleeson also star, with Pete Travis (Vantage Point) directing and Alex Garland on scripting duties (and it’s the last of these that should give us the most hope). The film’s due out September 7th.
Pete Travis Not Out Of Dredd After All
At the weekend we reported that director Pete Travis (Vantage Point), was no longer part of the team that’s putting a new film version of Judge Dredd together, and that writer/producer Alex Garland had taken over in the editing room and would complete the project. There were even talks of reshoots being needed (although no one was sure who would helm them) and that Garland may have sought a co-directing credit.
However, now Travis and Garland have stepped forward and issued a statement refuting what was said in the initial LA Times report that brought us news of possible problems on Dredd. They told the Times that, “During all stages of the filmmaking, ‘Dredd’ has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties. From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film. This situation has been misinterpreted. To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit. We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when its released next year.”
It’s interesting that they use the words ‘misinterpreted’ rather than wrong, as it still suggests Garland may be in charge of all things post-production. Indeed from that statement it’s still possible that Travis has pretty much removed himself from Dredd, it’s just that he wasn’t fired. As they say though, we should wait to judge the film when we see it, but history suggests that once a film starts having problems in post-production (which on balance it still seems Dredd has), it’s difficult to overcome them.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
Pete Travis Out Of Dredd
It’s never good news when between shooting a movie and it getting to cinemas a director leaves a project. However that’s what happened with the upcoming new take on Judge Dredd. Pete Travis (Vantage Point) has left the project in the middle of post-production, with the LA Times citing “creative disagreements with producers and executives”, which is the stock Hollywood answer anytime there’s a dispute. It’s not entirely clear if Travis walked away or if he’s been removed from Dredd.
Screenwriter/producer Alex Garland is now likely to take over the project in the editing room, and may seek a director’s credit. Dredd wrapped principal photography earlier this year and it seems the producers and executives in charge of the production were not pleased with the footage Pete Travis was delivering. However an insider claims that while Pete Travis isn’t involved in the post-production process, he is still keeping tabs on the project.
There is also the possibility that Dredd may undergo reshoots, although it isn’t known who would direct those. Many had wondered if there were issues with Dress, as the release date kept slipping backward, from the end of this year until it wasn’t due to arrive until September 21st, 2012. However the delay does mean there time to try and fix things, although it’s rare for a movie to be able to pull things back after ructions like this.
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser