JUDGE DREDD GOES INTO PRODUCTION FALL 2010

[dracula1]

They'd be daft not to take on board what Mr. Wagner is suggesting! Lets back our lads (Jock et- al) anyway and hope they can keep creative control over the project.

[Steve DGenerate]

Paramilitary? Oh dear, doesn't sound promising.
The image is there already, make modifications for comfort and movement sake, but as far as I'm concerned Dredd is as Dredd is.
If it ain't broke... 

[Hoagy]

i LOVE lIONSGATE!

[Peter Wolf]

John Wagner on the movie uniform (via facebook):

(The filmmaker's) uniform was more paramilitary in style. I urged them to move it back towards the uniform we know and I think they took that on board, but I haven't seen the final version.

Hmmm.

Who honestly didnt expect this to happen ?

I have had an image in my mind of a paramilitary looking JD for ages now.

Dont worry though as film studios always know best but there will be small parts of the uniform that will be recognisable to the fans* !!



*I just hate that comment so much and i quoted it from elsewhere.

[Kowalsky (formerly JudgeGumpty)]

A message I just posted on that same thread but who would have creative rights over that Uniform ? Surely the intellectual property is Johns and Carlos' ? and if thats the case any "Paramilitary" or variant thereof wouldnt be green lighted until they had final say.

[Danbo]

Not good,if Mr Wagner hasn't seen the final design,i thought he was a consultant?granted he told them to move back towards the original but the fact that he still ain't seen it makes me wonder how much influence he did have.Just enough to keep us quiet?

[minus]

I've really no idea how many people read the progs. What is the print run for a prog? If each and every reader went and saw the  movie, would that cover the production costs? Maybe this is why we are seeing this paramilitary uniform change... to appeal to the general public, and in particular, the American public.

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

As fans of 2000AD we of course want to see the comic strip writ large across the silver screen.

As Film producers the film makers have to appeal to the widest possible audience to re coup their investment. So prepare yourself for some inevitable changes to the 'classic' Judge Dredd uniform [shoulder pad, Eagle etc] to a more Halo meets Snake Plissken meets RoboCop type of thing.

Some things that work in a comic are simply impractical in real life. I think the shoulder Pad will definatly change and possibly, sacriligious though it is too say it will the shoulder Eagle. Dredd will probably be sporting Body Armour of some kind.

[Satnav]

I imagine they'd want some way to distance it from the Stallone movie as well. Let's face it, some people wouldn't buy the costume if it was directly translated to the screen, and there is the chance that it'd come out looking like a fascist power ranger all over again. So as long as it's not totally unrecognizable, I'm curious as to what they're gonna do.

[Spaceghost]

Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up...

[dracula1]

To Quote a much used phrase in 'V for Vendetta' . . . Bollocks! (to any paramilitary tweaks to Dredds image).

[Peter Wolf]

Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up... Please don't fuck it up...

I wish i had as much confidence in it all as you have.




My guess is the consultants will be sidelined more as things progress and to a certain extent the consultants are there to please the fans and i dont know how much creative control JW/Jock expect to realistically have.

Does anyone really think that the producers are going to listen to or ask the consultants about every little thing ?

Its better to be realistic from this point on to avoid disappointment and if the uniform has been radically altered then why expect everything else to be the same ?

Why should the producers care about what a minority of fans think about anything ?

They are in it for the money and to minimise any risk involved.

[IndigoPrime]

A message I just posted on that same thread but who would have creative rights over that Uniform ? Surely the intellectual property is Johns and Carlos'?

No—it's Rebellion's IP.

and if thats the case any "Paramilitary" or variant thereof wouldnt be green lighted until they had final say.

Not if they don't own the IP—which they don't.

Not good,if Mr Wagner hasn't seen the final design,i thought he was a consultant?

He is, and he's been advising. That doesn't mean they have to listen to his advice.

granted he told them to move back towards the original but the fact that he still ain't seen it makes me wonder how much influence he did have.Just enough to keep us quiet?

Yes, because obviously the movie team would only get Wagner on board to keep the 2000 AD fan-boys happy and not, say, because he's the guy who's written the majority of Judge Dredd stories and therefore knows the character better than anyone else.

I imagine they'd want some way to distance it from the Stallone movie as well.

That's a pretty good point, but I think one can also take another angle on it: despite what people might argue, the Stallone Dredd costume *was* pretty accurate. Make the Dredd costume again and you might end up with something that looks like a remake of the 1995 film, which would turn off practically everyone. However, created something darker, grittier and different and the film has a shot.

Frankly, I don't really care, as long as some elements remain (helmet, some elements elsewhere), as long as the tone is right. Also, if Dredd was being designed today, do you really think he'd end up looking the same? He's a product of the 1970s, and while Ezquerra's design has stood the test of time pretty well, I'm sure he'd be the first to agree that a Dredd designed *today* would look very different—even if he was designing him.

They are in it for the money and to minimise any risk involved.

Well, they are certainly in it for the money, because otherwise Dredd is done for in movies for a generation. But to minimise risk? Really? Let's see. Dredd is:

- Largely unknown.
- A niche UK comics character with almost no worldwide presence.
- A borderline fascist with few redeeming 'human' characteristics that you'd see in a film—hard to root for.
- Poisoned in Hollywood due to a dreadful sole existing movie.

Just doing a Dredd movie at all is a massive risk. So, yeah, if they tone down the crazy 1970s design for something more palatable to movie-goers, fair enough. And, let's face it, it worked pretty well for the X-Men.

[Dreddzilla]

As fans of 2000AD we of course want to see the comic strip writ large across the silver screen.

As Film producers the film makers have to appeal to the widest possible audience to re coup their investment. So prepare yourself for some inevitable changes to the 'classic' Judge Dredd uniform [shoulder pad, Eagle etc] to a more Halo meets Snake Plissken meets RoboCop type of thing.

Some things that work in a comic are simply impractical in real life. I think the shoulder Pad will definatly change and possibly, sacriligious though it is too say it will the shoulder Eagle. Dredd will probably be sporting Body Armour of some kind.

Then why bother to call it DREDD? why not ''Miscellaneous FutureRobosoldier'' if they are going to change that much of the character???
I thought this was the reason Dredd was being made without Hollyweird's help, so as to avoid these types of shenanigans?

[Mardroid]

You could put Dredd in a frock and he'd still be Dredd. Albeit a very cheesed off Dredd.

The uniform is certainly iconic, and I hope they keep many of the elements, but it IS just a uniform. As long as it projects the faceless presence of law (and it likely will. They've said the helmet stays on or at least if it's off, his face will be hidden) and he acts in a way close to how he would in the comics, then that is Dredd.

As I've said I do hope they keep many of the elements. If it's a good film, I'm not going to fret much over it though. As for what makes him different for any other fascist cop, well, what makes any other pseudo-fascist* cop different from Dredd? He's pretty much the archetype isn't he?

I'm pretty sure there aren't that many out there. (At least not as protagonists.) You might quote Dirty Harry, (and there are certainly similarities, Dredd being partly based on him) but he would stretched the law to get the job done. Dredd fulfils it. Albeit it's a harsh law.

*I say 'pseudo-' because I'm not sure how fascist Dredd's world actually is. It's a totalitarian police state but I'm not sure if that's actually fascism. (I'm not saying it isn't, I honestly don't know much about politics to say.) I think the word is sometimes over-used.