The 2012 comic book action film ‘Dredd’ turned out to be both a sleeper hit and a cult classic, birthing a loyal fanbase that continues to fight for a sequel to this day.
The Karl Urban action flick based on the 1970s character of the same name was a mean, no-holds-barred extravaganza of violence that gave genre fans exactly what they were looking for.
However, with 14 years now passing since the film’s release, let’s check into the status of its sequel, how and if it is progressing, and what hope remains of its release anytime soon.
Where did the story originate?
Created in the late 1970s by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, Judge Dredd is a law enforcement officer tasked with being judge, jury, and executioner in a post-apocalyptic future.
Tasked with bringing down crime in a post-nuclear war America, the character and his stories were a satire on a judicial system taken to the extreme.
The comic’s popularity led the comic’s parent company, Rebellion to greenlight the inevitable Hollywood adaptation, and in 1995, Sylvester Stallone starred in the first Judge Dredd film. The Stallone film was not only a box office misfire but also widely maligned as one of the worst films of the year. As a result, a proposed sequel was thus hastily shelved.
After the 1995 Stallone misfire, it was Australian actor Karl Urban (Star Trek, Thor: Ragnarok) who donned the iconic helmet for the 2012 redux. Written by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) and directed by Pete Travis, the reboot was billed as being more in line with the comics, as opposed to the 1995 film, which took extreme liberty with the Dredd source material. Urban goes all-in on the character here, effortlessly transforming into the iconic law enforcer given the power of judge, jury, and executioner.
What's the story?
Tasked with dispensing justice in Mega City One, a vast dystopian metropolis plagued by both overpopulation and crime, Dredd and his rookie partner, Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), are forced to bring order to a 200-storey high-rise block of apartments and deal with its resident drug lord, Ma-Ma.
Mayhem and violence inevitably ensue as the duo is forced to break out of the siege and bring an end to Ma-Ma’s reign of carnage.
Made on a budget of around $40 million, Dredd fumbled in its marketing and made a mere $41 million in theatres. Failing to make back its budget, it was considered a box office disappointment.
However, the film was very positively received by both critics and fans and soon developed a cult following. The hardcore fan base of the film was further empowered when Dredd co-creator John Wagner praised the film for being true to the comics (Wagner had lambasted the 1995 Dredd outing, calling it totally out of line with what Dredd was).
READ NEXT: I Am Legend 2: Everything We Know So Far
With the film a box office disappointment, the only way for a sequel to materialize was if the home media sales could be significant.
Thanks to the fans and the film’s solid reputation, the film did indeed manage to garner significant sales in the years that followed. Over the years, the home media sales alone have reached close to their box office gross, which is a terrific achievement.
No doubt, such results were aided by fans' mass buying of Dredd DVDs and Blu-rays, after its makers had made it known that sizable sales would result in a sequel.
Will there be a Dredd 2?
However, conflicting signals continued to come in from the core Dredd team. Producer Adi Shankar stated in 2013 that a sequel was unlikely, but some months later, Urban clarified that strong home media sales did indeed strengthen the chances for a follow-up.
A fan petition calling for a sequel was endorsed by Dredd publisher 2000AD, and by 2016, the team was said to be in discussions to continue the follow-up on streaming with either Amazon Prime or Netflix. Ultimately, these endeavours never went anywhere.
By 2020, the development of the sequel was said to be affected by the pandemic. It was only by fall 2023 that an interview with Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley gave a clearer picture of what had been going on behind the scenes.
Kingsley made it known that there indeed had been progress but it had been slow because any party they wanted to partner with for the sequel wanted the rights to the Judge Dredd franchise itself. This was because the first film’s low gross meant that the underwritten risk with its follow-up was high.
With nobody coming on board without this, this had unfortunately meant that Dredd 2 had not yet taken off. But Kingsley was optimistic that they would work it out. However, as time would show, they would indeed not be able to work it out.
READ NEXT: Will We Ever Get A District 10 by Neill Blomkamp?
Moving in a new direction?
At the same time, a new Dredd live-action series titled ‘Mega City One’ was also said to be in development, with Urban circling to reprise the role. With minor pre-production work underway, the development of the series would also ultimately stall, just like the film sequel.
With the sequel plans going nowhere and no financier willing to risk their cash, it was finally announced in July 2025 that Rebellion had decided on a new reboot, with Taika Waititi set to direct the new film, with Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce attached to write.
This new direction gives Rebellion the full rights to the new project, allowing them to develop the film more closely in line with the tone and world of the original 2000 AD comics, while also potentially laying the groundwork for a broader Judge Dredd universe across film and television.
READ NEXT: Van Helsing 2 with Hugh Jackman | Rumours, Dates, Cast, and Development
With the financiers now preferring a Taika Waititi helmed Dredd reboot, chances of Dredd 2 happening with Karl Urban just plummeted to near zero. There’s always a possibility that the Waititi-Dredd package ends up going nowhere (like Waititi’s Akira film) and by some twist of fate, Dredd 2 makes a return from the dead.
Until that happens, it is best to pop that Dredd 2012 Blu-ray into your home entertainment system and enjoy the beautiful, violent, and pretty faithful adaptation of one of the best cult comic properties of the last century.
