Actor Karl Urban will be playing the lead role in Judge Dredd, a film based on the legendary comic of the same name. Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich are attached to produce the film, a reboot which will essentially ignore the unpopular 1995 version starring the Razzie-nominated Sylvester Stallone.
Urban’s attachment was confirmed at a Movie-Con Q&A according to Empire Online, giving credence to the rumors flying around about Urban playing the role. Here’s what Macdonald had to say about the upcoming film:
“The main thing about Dredd is that it’s a fantastic comic that was completely messed up 20 years ago. Our idea is to make a very hard, R-rated, gritty, realistic movie of Dredd in Megacity, so we’ve got to get the tone right. He’s not going to take off his helmet. His bike is going to feel real. He’s going to hit people and it’s going to feel real."
"There’s been a change in comic-book movies; they were treated unseriously and now they’re treated seriously. We’ve cast a guy called Karl Urban to play Dredd. We’ll be shooting in Johannesburg, it’s being directed by Pete Travis, we’re shooting with the people who did District 9 – and if we get it right, Alex has a couple of ideas for other stories as well. It’s not based on any one comic, and John Wagner is involved in every decision."
Since the character Dredd won’t be removing his helmet in the film, you could probably hire anyone to play the part and make it work, but Urban looks like the perfect tough guy for the role.
Urban is best known for his portrayal of Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ take on Star Trek. The New Zealand-born actor has a number of action credentials, playing Eomer in the Lord of the Rings films and having significant roles in The Chronicles of Riddick and The Bourne Supremacy. He can next be seen in October's anticipated comic book movie RED as well as next May's vampire-slaying flick Priest.
