Alex Garland has been speaking about the possibility of a sequel to Dredd, and despite being flattered by fans clamouring for a follow-up, has admitted it is looking unlikely.
“How can I say this without being soppy?” said Garland to Collider. “It’s touching. It means something that these people support the film in that way, but the thing people want, which is a sequel, I don’t think is going to happen… I don’t think it’s happening with me and the people who made the last one.”
As for the way the first film turned out, Garland is pleased with the chord it seems to have struck with fans, but remains disappointed that it wasn’t enough to kick-start a movie franchise.
“It’s a really complicated set of emotions. I have a lot of regret about how things worked out with Dredd, but it’s very gratifying. You do a kind of transaction, particularly with the creators of it, which is that we want to do this thing and honour what you did, and try to do it properly, and then the film will reward that trust.”
“That act of faith and trust and decency. And I think that the film rewarded them in one sense, but not in another. I do believe it rewarded them creatively, unless they’re lying to me about that. But I think it has created this thing of this movie that fails.”
“The story of Dredd is that of a failed movie. Both times, for fuck’s sake. And to be party to that, when that was exactly the intention - to not do that - is kind of difficult.”
We’d argue that there are still lots of positives to take from the finished film, even if it didn’t quite pan out how Garland imagined. Here’s hoping we see the Judge back on the big screen sooner rather than later…
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