Judge Dredd Director Canned

Greg Tito

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Sep 29, 2005
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Judge Dredd Director Canned



Director Pete Travis is no longer the law.

1995's Judge Dredd is not exactly remembered fondly. Sylvester Stallone did as well as an Italian-American with a speech impediment could with the role, but many longtime fans felt the film didn't do justice to the comic book source material. A reboot of the IP was shot this year, starring Karl Urban of Eomer (LOTR) fame, but there is trouble with the production. The director Pete Travis - who made Vantage Point in 2008 - has apparently been ousted from the production with the screenwriter Alex Garland taking over editing Judge Dredd. Garland has some prestigious writing credits - 28 Days Later, and the game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - but he has never directed a film before.

No one is really sure what caused the discord but all signs point to creative differences between the screenwriter and the director. With Travis ousted from the editing room and the producers, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich, might even give Garland a co-directing credit which is unheard of in Hollywood. A source close to the production said that Garland, who is also listed as a producer on the film, would have to petition the Directors Guild of Great Britain for the credit change.

I may be biased, but I think the writer taking over is a great idea. Garland has earned a lot of credit for me for penning great scripts and it's clear he has support from the backers of the film. I feel bad that Travis has been edged out, but I feel more comfortable with a competent screenwriter at the helm than an incompetent director.

Source: L.A. Times [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/10/director-drama-heats-up-on-dredd.html]

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TimeLord

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Greg Tito said:
1995's Judge Dredd is not exactly remembered fondly.
Being a Judge Dredd fan who hasn't read much comic material on the matter, I must disagree on this statement. I loved the film, yes it was cliché ridden and kinda crap. But it was still so much fun to watch!
 

TheRightToArmBears

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I have every faith in the talents of Alex Garland. The Beach is one of my very favourite books, I'm sure he can make sure this all ends well.
 

slacker09

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Does anyone else feel that his helmet looks too spacious in that shot? It looks too big for him.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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at OP, agreed, he is an awesome writer and i love his work! so hopefully this will give him a better hands on approach to it and give the movie some justice! (although i still loved the cheesy stallone version from the 90's, man that was cheesy awesome italian americanness to the extreme.)
 

Fearzone

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Dec 3, 2008
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I liked the '95 version. I remember when they exiled the old judge to the barren wastelands with nothing but a book of law and a gun. That I thought was a great scene. Never read the comics though.

Can't speak much for this movie, but for the recent Conan the Barbarian I wish they had fired the screenwriter but I guess we covered that before.
 

alrekr

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slacker09 said:
Does anyone else feel that his helmet looks too spacious in that shot? It looks too big for him.
Its based on the original Dredd from the early comics; in which he wasn't so insanely muscular and bugle faced(he has cannoicly aged as time has passed hence the different designs over time)
TimeLord said:
Greg Tito said:
1995's Judge Dredd is not exactly remembered fondly.
Being a Judge Dredd fan who hasn't read much comic material on the matter, I must disagree on this statement. I loved the film, yes it was cliché ridden and kinda crap. But it was still so much fun to watch!
Watch Demolition Man its got Stalone (and Snipes) in again but it as closer to a Judge Dredd film than the actual one with Stalone in.
 

Sixcess

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I'm a long time Dredd fan and I liked the Stallone movie. Sure it wasn't perfect, but it could have been a lot worse and it's hard not to enjoy the utterly frenetic pace. As comic book adaptations go I rate it pretty highly.

This, on the other hand, isn't looking good. So they canned the director after shooting was complete? So whatever they do now they're working with what's already been shot, unless they go to the trouble and expense of reshoots. Nope, not sounding good.
 

Jonny49

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This happens more times than people think, and it isn't a good sign. Bad shooting usually lends itself for another director to be brought in during post-production by the producers in order to iron out the kinks, but editing can only do so much.

See Jonah Hex for example.

I still hold hope though, Alex Garland is a great screenwriter who from what I've heard has alot of love for Dredd, as does Karl Urban apparently. So it might not suck!
 

Albino Boo

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Just because you can write a great screenplay, doesn't mean you have the know how to edit a film. Just think a second, how may movies have been ruined by taking the end product away from the director? Count the number of directors cuts that have come out later to wide acclaim (ok lets ignore George Lucas for now). A bad director is bad director but putting someone in charge how has grand total of 4 scriptwriting credits looks like desperation. The 2 most successful scripts by Garland, Sunshine and 28 days later, both has the same director in Danny Boyle. Boyle won an oscar for slumdog millionaire with script by someone else, so how much was Garland and how much was Boyle?
 

Quellist

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Pretty much anytime someone important gets fired from a movie and replaced you know there are serious problems with the movie. Doesn't matter who they hired in, you cant polish a turd and if this movie is broken trying to fix it will likely make it worse.
 

Steve Lovell

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Quellist said:
Pretty much anytime someone important gets fired from a movie and replaced you know there are serious problems with the movie. Doesn't matter who they hired in, you cant polish a turd and if this movie is broken trying to fix it will likely make it worse.
mythbusters say otherwise.
Ot: is it actually worth changing the director, it will just be so inconsistent
 

Alandoril

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Petition the Director's Guild of Great Britain for a credit change? Bugger that if he ends up being co-director then that's what he is. No bones about it. He shouldn't have to petition anyone.
 

Aiddon_v1legacy

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albino boo said:
Just because you can write a great screenplay, doesn't mean you have the know how to edit a film. Just think a second, how may movies have been ruined by taking the end product away from the director? Count the number of directors cuts that have come out later to wide acclaim (ok lets ignore George Lucas for now). A bad director is bad director but putting someone in charge how has grand total of 4 scriptwriting credits looks like desperation. The 2 most successful scripts by Garland, Sunshine and 28 days later, both has the same director in Danny Boyle. Boyle won an oscar for slumdog millionaire with script by someone else, so how much was Garland and how much was Boyle?
No kidding, directing and editing are VERY different skill sets than writing. Sounds like Garland is up for a nasty directorial debut.
 

Dogstile

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Wait, people DIDN'T like the first Judge Dredd? But it was one of the best bad films i've ever watched!
 

Vzzdak

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For anyone that wants to read original Judge Dredd material for comparison, there are some compilations available for online purchase and electronic download here:

DriveThruComics
http://comics.drivethrustuff.com