Taika Waititi to Direct ‘Judge Dredd’ Film Adaptation: Promises Dark Humor & Universe Expansion

This week, Hollywood is buzzing with the exciting news as content producer Taika Waititi, famed for his successful films Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit, is announced to helm a fresh feature film adaptation of ‘Judge Dredd’, the popular violent British comic book character. Drew Pearce, renowned for his action-movie writing in films like Fall Guy and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, is set to pen the script. Aiming to create a Dredd universe that could further be explored in future, Waititi’s take is said to lean more into the comics’ world-building and dark humor, promising a blockbuster sure to resonate with today’s culture.

– Taika Waititi, known for directing “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Jojo Rabbit,” is attached to direct a new feature film on “Judge Dredd,” a popular British comic book character.
– The screenplay will be written by Drew Pearce, who is known for action movie titles such as “Fall Guy” and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.”
– The film aims to create a Dredd universe that could be further explored through additional movies and shows and aims to take inspiration primarily from the original comic iterations, with elements of world-building and dark humor.

The potent combination of Taika Waititi and Judge Dredd is piquing the interests of studio bigwigs this week, as one of the year’s most notable film propositions enters the Hollywood arena.

Waititi, known for his directorial work in Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit, is lined up to helm a fresh cinematic interpretation of Dredd, the notorious and bloody British comic book figure.

On board for crafting the script is Drew Pearce, who has gained notoriety in the realm of action movies through his work on films such as Fall Guy and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Steering the production are Dredd rights owners Chris Kingsley, Jason Kingsley and Ben Smith of Rebellion Developments, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee, Jeremy Platt, Natalie Viscuso, and Pearce himself.

Both Waititi and Pearce are known to be fans of the original books and have long been searching for a project to embark on together. The pair’s ties to Dredd stem from a shared childhood passion for the comics.

Dredd was birthed in the late 1970s by the creative minds of writer John Wagner and illustrator Carlos Ezquerra and made its inaugural appearance within the classic British weekly anthology, 2000 AD. The narrative revolves around a dystopian future city known as Mega-City One and its justice system, which grants law enforcement officials the power to act as judge, jury, and executioner. As a social commentary on an immensely exaggerated judicial system, Dredd gathered a considerable following, promoting a surge of additional comics, video and board games, books, and even commemorative stamps in the UK. Reportedly, over 100 million comics and graphic novels have been sold globally.

In 1995, Dredd first moved to the big screen, featuring Sylvester Stallone in a megabucks Hollywood retelling. However, the film’s reception left a lot to be desired. In contrast, the 2012 adaptation, Dredd, featuring Karl Urban and penned by 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland, garnered a much warmer response.

Details of the plot are currently kept under wraps, but according to sources, the envisaged narrative is expected to draw more heavily from the original comics than previous film versions, with an emphasis on world-building and tenebrous humor. At the same time, it strives to deliver a thrilling blockbuster sci-fi that is relevant to the present cultural context. The hope is that this film will serve as the groundwork for a cinematic Dredd universe that could be further expanded across multiple films and various formats.