OK guys. I think I've cracked the way a sequel could be done and how it could lead in a possible third one. I've already touched on some of these points in another post so if I repeat myself please forgive me.
OK - there are rumblings that a new movie would deal with the Origins story. I personally think they should stay away from that. I don't really think this movie universe needs an origin story of any kind - at least certainly not for the first sequel. No - I actually think a perfect story for the sequel would be something akin to The Day The Law Died.
Dredd is called to HQ and told that they want him to partner with Anderson again. She's experiencing terrifying hallucinations and nightmares and whenever she has one of these episodes - an unusual amount of electrical energy is detected around her. The visions and dreams she has are of a skeletal face saying "I'm cooooooming.... you are the dooooorwaaay Andersssssson". Control want Dredd to basically protect Anderson. He is told in secret that for a while now, the existence of other dimensions has been suspected and Anderson may be experiencing some kind of interference from them. Dredd protests about doing a "babysitting" job but reluctantly agrees.
They are interupted by an explosion at the Hall of Justice. Dredd and Anderson are two of the Judges first on the scene. The chief Judge is killed in the explosion and Judge Cal is made temporary acting Chief. Only he's completely insane. Many Judges have been killed or injured.
Turns out Cal was behind the explosion and was hoping Dredd would be killed in it. His plan is to take control of Mega City One and wanted Dredd out of the way to make it easier.
The story would run much like the comic book does. Cal has Dredd, Anderson and the surviving Judges declared outlaws and they must go into the streets and lead a citizen uprising to take control of the city back. They must also prevent an assassination of Hershey who is next in line to be Chief Judge.
It's a story that like the original can be pretty streamlined. The point of it would mainly be to take the action out onto the streets of Mega City One.
Hall of Justice is destroyed, Chief Judge killed. Dredd and Anderson outlawed. They must prevent an assassination on Hershey, remove Cal from power, restore Hershey to her rightful place. BOSH. There's your movie.
The thing about Anderson's nightmares and hallucinations would be a subplot. During the course of the story we see her occasionally zone out and have one of her episodes. Dredd grows increasingly concerned about her throughout the course of the events. At the end they destroy Cal and put Hershey in place and control is restored to the city. However Anderson suddenly collapses. Dredd catches her and urgently calls for medical backup. Anderson is not breathing and Dredd desperately performs CPR on her. Suddenly her eyes open, the camera zooms right into her iris where we see the face of Judge Death who laughs then screams "I AM HERE!!"
Fade to black. Film ends. Then we have the Dark Judges story set up for the third.
I've said before in here that I don't think the Dark Judges can be done in one of these movies - but I think if they set the story up as a subplot in the previous film before they do it properly, maybe audiences could accept it. It would have to be done through the Anderson character much like it is in the comics. I'm still not completely convinced... but fuck it. If I had the job of directing the sequel I reckon I'd have a crack at it.
What about you guys? If it was up to you would you take an approach like this or do things differently?
Quote from: ChickenStu on 15 September, 2014, 10:10:08 AM
What about you guys? If it was up to you would you take an approach like this or do things differently
I'd let the guys that made a remarkably good job of bringing the character to the screen do it again and be pathetically grateful for any kind of sequel at all. Other people's mileage may vary.
Cheers
Jim
Same as Jim, with the addition that I'd hope they'd merrily avoid the comic's stories or just pick and choose a few bits to integrate. The Dredd world isn't the same one as the comic, and long-running stories whose impacts rely on years of following Dredd won't have the same clout on screen. The Judge Dredd film's a good example of that: Dredd exhibiting doubts in the system after many years of kicking heads is one thing; after half an hour of screen time, not so much.
Right, just do another great job. I really like the film because it's so respectful to the work and still somehow a very different dimension. So yes, coast as close as you can but be your own thing, is what I'd say. No film or show can touch the comics at their best. It's too easy to think of comics (because they are most obviously pictures) a rung on a ladder leading to film. When they are not really interchangeable media at all - comics are far superior. It doesn't get any better than great comics. But yes, make a sequel, that was cool.
If it is going to be DREDD 2 then make it about the two Dredds. Have the Judge Dredd that we met in the first film Rico Dredd and introduce Joe Dredd in the sequel.
Quote from: 8-Ball on 15 September, 2014, 11:57:58 AM
If it is going to be DREDD 2 then make it about the two Dredds. Have the Judge Dredd that we met in the first film Rico Dredd and introduce Joe Dredd in the sequel.
Nice twist...
someone on faceybook posted that if they did the Origins story they should have Stallone play Fargo. I thought that would be an hilariously good idea.
Then in Dredd 3 they can have 3 Dredds!
Quote from: Skullmo on 15 September, 2014, 12:03:31 PM
Then in Dredd 3 they can have 3 Dredds!
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. :lol:
Quote from: Skullmo on 15 September, 2014, 12:03:31 PM
Then in Dredd 3 they can have 3 Dredds!
Dredd, new Rico, and Dolman?
If I had the money to invest in the film I would leave all creative control to Alex garland n co. Sit back n relax n watch b the film once it was done.
Sorted.
Funnily enough I was talking about this with a mate over the weekend. As much as I love the Dark Judges I don't know that I'm that keen to see them in Dredd 2. I don't think they'd fit too well with the world set up in Dredd. I'd prefer something grittier with fantasy kept to more of a minimum.
If there is a Dredd 2, I think they should blow all of the budget in the first 10 minutes on a mass Fattie stampede!
Cheers
Yeah, I'm of the same school of thought which says leave it up to Garland, Urban with Wagner's input.
Just build on the sterling work from the first film.
I'm up for anything the creative team can dream up! :)
Quote from: NapalmKev on 15 September, 2014, 02:53:53 PM
If there is a Dredd 2, I think they should blow all of the budget in the first 10 minutes on a mass Fattie stampede!
Couldn't cost that much - I imagine most boarders would work for free?
It's more the whole 'running' thing...
The budget for hilariously non-Judge physique Jimps would likely be next to nothing too.
QuoteSuddenly her eyes open, the camera zooms right into her iris where we see the face of Judge Death who laughs then screams "I AM HERE!!"
Fade to black. Film ends. Then we have the Dark Judges story set up for the third.
This kind of cheesy sequel-baiting is exactly the kind of thing I would
not want from a sequel. It's like the ending of Godzilla '98.
One of the main reasons people loved Dredd was that is was perfectly self-contained and served as an antidote to the kind of bloated comic book movies that spend more time presumptuously setting up a franchise than telling a decent story. We want a sequel not because it was teased but because the first one left us wanting more.
I like what radiator and boo have to say. The first film was a claustrophobic vision of a day in the life of one city block....sorry mega block; just widen it out a bit and give us more of the meatgrinder that is the big meg. Z
I think ChickenStu's outline is a lot of fun (and maybe a direction for the movie-world comics?) - but I'm afraid I agree with the later posters: expand the sequel beyond Peach Trees into the wider MC-1 (and maybe the Cursed Earth), but keep the same 'everyday grind' tone. And I speak as one who was originally very much against the stripped-back near-future look and theme of what we should all call 'the first film', preferring fatties and robots and muties and blobs and batgliders to a straight drug-themed shoot-em-up: but by heck did it work.
I liked the Dredd movie but I think I would be disappointed if it was a similar 'small-scale' affair. Origins movies are becoming a bit corny but it could work well in this scenario - Dredd has never been too popular in the US as they just see him as a fascist oppressor so the movie could cover the breakup of the old world order and the 'necessary evil' of the judges. It's never going to be able to convey all the subtleties of decades of work but might get the some of the audience appreciating there is more to the character.
I would also love to see Judge Death in the movie and I'm sure when we have discussed this in the past someone suggested Death be a mutant who comes out of the cursed earth and skip over some of the character elements that would be more of a difficult fit in the movie world - I think that could work well.
QuoteI would also love to see Judge Death in the movie and I'm sure when we have discussed this in the past someone suggested Death be a mutant who comes out of the cursed earth and skip over some of the character elements that would be more of a difficult fit in the movie world - I think that could work well.
I have suggested a couple of times that one way of going about adapting Judge Death would be to blend the storylines of both The Day the Law Died and Judge Death/Judge Death Lives - with an 'insane Chief Judge'/'Hall of Justice coup' plot - perhaps with a supernatural element, perhaps reimagine the character as a twisted counterpart to Anderson.
I could be going crazy and misremembering/fantasising here - it was a couple(!) of years ago now - but ISTR Alex Garland suggesting that he was thinking of something along similar lines when it came to tackling Judge Death.
Guys just let garland and co do there thing as the first movie was a belter , reckon alex and co has something quite special for Dredd up his sleeve.
Quote from: radiator on 15 September, 2014, 06:34:56 PM
I have suggested a couple of times that one way of going about adapting Judge Death would be to blend the storylines of both The Day the Law Died and Judge Death/Judge Death Lives - with an 'insane Chief Judge'/'Hall of Justice coup' plot
IDW beat them to it.
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 15 September, 2014, 07:57:02 PM
Quote from: radiator on 15 September, 2014, 06:34:56 PM
I have suggested a couple of times that one way of going about adapting Judge Death would be to blend the storylines of both The Day the Law Died and Judge Death/Judge Death Lives - with an 'insane Chief Judge'/'Hall of Justice coup' plot
IDW beat them to it.
In Spades.
Quote from: radiator on 15 September, 2014, 04:48:12 PMThis kind of cheesy sequel-baiting is exactly the kind of thing I would not want from a sequel. It's like the ending of Godzilla '98.
Yeah, I see how you can think that BUT - it's not JUST a sequel bait, it also serves another purpose. It's also a way of showing the audience a bit of Judge Death IN CASE there ISN'T a third one, as well as setting up a story for a possible third one.
I also wouldn't approach it like
Godzilla... I'd expect it to be more akin to the endings of
The Empire Strikes Back,
X-Men 2,
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan that kind of thing... more like
X-Men 2 than any other. That perfectly set up the Dark Phoenix storyline for the third movie...
I wouldn't make it cheesy. It would be scary as fuck.
Chicken Stu - I love your enthusiasm!
I'd do it so that it actually made money.
Ninja Zombies.
No Movie couldn't be improved by the presence of Ninja Zombies in it.
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 16 September, 2014, 01:55:41 PM
Ninja Zombies.
No Movie couldn't be improved by the presence of Ninja Zombies in it.
That was what Robocop 3 needed!
Quote from: IAMTHESYSTEM on 16 September, 2014, 01:55:41 PM
Ninja Zombies.
No Movie couldn't be improved by the presence of Ninja Zombies in it.
Ninja Zombie Robo-Pirates would be even better. I wonder if they could work the Pirates of The Black Atlantic into the script?
Quote from: Skullmo on 16 September, 2014, 11:37:46 AM
Chicken Stu - I love your enthusiasm!
Why thank you kind sir! :)
I'm all about Judge Death and The Dark Judges running wild. My perfect movie would have the first 40 minutes be Dredd doing business as usual, something like The Graveyard Shift etc, just dealing with a lot and being right in the thick of it. Also introducing the sleep machine, so the audience realizes Dredd really is on the streets almost 24/7. And ideally a PJ Maybe cameo somewhere in there etc.
During that half hour we'd get glimpses of Anderson having weird visions, culminating in Judge Death showing up for act 2. And the Dark Judges and full-on mayhem for the last 20 minutes.
QuoteI'm all about Judge Death and The Dark Judges running wild. My perfect movie would have the first 40 minutes be Dredd doing business as usual, something like The Graveyard Shift etc, just dealing with a lot and being right in the thick of it. Also introducing the sleep machine, so the audience realizes Dredd really is on the streets almost 24/7. And ideally a PJ Maybe cameo somewhere in there etc.
That was pretty much my original idea of how to do a Dredd movie before Dredd was made.
Opening scene: time displays 6:10am, montage of Dredd getting out of sleep machine, suiting up.
Then we follow Dredd out on patrol, perhaps accompanied by a reporter or a rookie or something, following the format of The Graveyard Shift. The film has a sort of verite style, like the first half of District 9 - not full-on found footage, but all shot on handheld cameras etc.
Though the focus is on Dredd, we follow several supporting characters, from civilians to fellow judges to perps, whose arcs play out through the film. The film is interspersed with talking head interviews with them, again a bit like District 9 or the Dredd story 'Mutie Block'.
Things gradually escalate throughout the day and build to a climactic, epic showdown of some kind, with Dredd emerging battered at the end. He then returns to his Sector House.
The 'twist' of the film - much like how it played out in Dredd, is that despite all of the tension and crazy action that has built up an unfolded throughout, this is really just another routine day and nothing out of the ordinary. Dredd gets patched up, climbs back into the sleep machine, the time displays 6:00am. Credits.
Just give me another film I can enjoy and for Grud's sake don't drokk it up at this stage of the game.
.
That's all I ask.
I hope Dredd 2 is called D2, in the same way that Terminator 2 was called T2.
Then we can have D2 3D
Quote from: Skullmo on 18 September, 2014, 02:11:56 PM
I hope Dredd 2 is called D2, in the same way that Terminator 2 was called T2.
Then we can have D2 3D
Is this an intentional reference to the Mighty Ducks sequel (another Emilio classic!), or is that just a fun coincidence? :D D2 already exists and it was a masterful film.
Quote from: Skullmo on 18 September, 2014, 02:11:56 PM
I hope Dredd 2 is called D2, in the same way that Terminator 2 was called T2.
Then we can have D2 3D
Isn't that one of the droids in the new Star Wars movie?? ;)
Along with Donald Wookie.
I'd rather see a sequel exploring the world established by the first film than some awkward compromise that ends up only paying lip-service to the comic. So no Judge Death. Save it if you must for the Anderson spin-off I think we're more likely to get.
I dunno. Something along the lines of 'Origins' and the Booth two-parter from 'The Cursed Earth' might work. Via 'The Return of Rico!' and 'Blood Cadets' (or whatever it's called).
And while no one's looking make a third film back-to-back that's basically 'Block Mania' with Total War or somesuch in place of the Sovs. End it on the same cliffhanger as the comic and drive everyone crazy by not making 'The Apocalypse War'. Ever.
Quote from: Eric Plumrose on 22 September, 2014, 03:55:09 PM
the Anderson spin-off I think we're more likely to get.
I've yet to see a campaign called
Make an Anderson Spin-Off.
If there's a campaign called "Make* Anderson Strip-Off", count me in**.
.
* By which I mean "ask nicely", obviously - I don't want to appear sexist. Again.
.
**Sexist or not, I'm still in.
My guess for the titles of the trilogy as planned would have been:
DREDD: ORIGINS
DREDD VS DEATH
Quote from: JOE SOAP on 22 September, 2014, 04:27:52 PM
I've yet to see a campaign called Make an Anderson Spin-Off.
My point exactly.
I had the idea after hearing some people complain about Karl not getting any "face time" in the movie that they do a running gag in the back ground where they show some wacked out MC-1 TV in the background and they show some commercials that have Max Normal selling something and Karl could portray both Dredd and Max.
I thought it sounded funny but that may just be me.
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 22 September, 2014, 04:42:45 PM
If there's a campaign called "Make* Anderson Strip-Off", count me in**.
.
* By which I mean "ask nicely", obviously - I don't want to appear sexist. Again.
.
**Sexist or not, I'm still in.
In the comic you look up teen-Anderson's skirt...
Nuff said.
And an inspiring view it was and all!
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 25 September, 2014, 04:02:22 AM
And an inspiring view it was and all!
Oh no, Sharky's been at the Mayor's pills!
Don't shoot me, but I do think that one of the big things that they shouldn't do is screen the whole film at SDCC or any other convention. Do an extended trailer or something specially for the event but not the whole film. Keep those appetites whetted.
DREDD becomes Judge Death! In an incredibly poor plot line Judge Dredd, looking into report of walking corpses out in the Cursed Earth returns as super Mutant Judge Death! Judge Anderson using her psychic ability discovers Dredd's change was caused by:
A: Some sort of bio hazard that needs nuking
B: An experiment by the Mutant Liberation Front to subvert Judges
C: Judge Dredd was a Justice Department experiment to create the perfect Judge: They thought they'd succeeded when unfortunately it's another 'negative Bio result, back to the old test tubes.'
Good grief. I can see how in the hands of someone less wedded to strip continuity but with the strip's history to play with might just be tempted to say "You know what? Dredd clones plus Bad Bob Booth plus mutations? Yeah - let's make Death and his buddies out of clones of Dredd!"
Sure, it's expedient, but it's not somewhere I'd want it to go.
But then, I'm firmly in the 'Anderson should have a spin-off and Death should be the big bad' camp because he's HER nemesis, not Dredd's.
Quote from: QuickQuag on 27 September, 2014, 09:56:13 PMBut then, I'm firmly in the 'Anderson should have a spin-off and Death should be the big bad' camp because he's HER nemesis, not Dredd's.
There's plenty of Death to go around. :P
Considering how tough it is to get a Dredd movie going at all, and how strong the interplay of Dredd and Anderson is, I don't see a reason to split them up.
To purposefully misinterpret the question, I'd do Dredd 2 as a Kickstarter.
Veronica Mars raise $5.7m, a record I'm pretty sure a Dredd follow up would smash.
Also, I'd put the Dark Judges in it. Once does not simply wait for a guaranteed never to happen threequel. It is folly.
Quote from: ChickenStu on 15 September, 2014, 10:10:08 AM...Dredd is called to HQ and told that they want him to partner with Anderson again. She's experiencing terrifying hallucinations and nightmares and whenever she has one of these episodes - an unusual amount of electrical energy is detected around her. The visions and dreams she has are of a skeletal face saying "I'm cooooooming.... you are the dooooorwaaay Andersssssson". Control want Dredd to basically protect Anderson. He is told in secret that for a while now, the existence of other dimensions has been suspected and Anderson may be experiencing some kind of interference from them. Dredd protests about doing a "babysitting" job but reluctantly agrees...
I agree with certain criticisms of the proposed ending, but really I have a bigger problem with your beginning. After Anderson spent the whole of the first film proving herself, starting the sequel by busting her back to the vulnerable sidekick / potential liability is nonsensical and entirely the wrong direction to take the character. It means she has to repeat the same arc all over again. A sequel needs to let her move forward from where she left off.