Interview: Screenwriter/producer Alex Garland (Dredd 3D)

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I’m a huge Alex Garland fan. His novel, “The Beach” (not to be confused with the 2000 film adaptation by Danny Boyle) is one of my all-time favorite books, and I’ve already read both of his follow-ups, “The Tesseract” and “Coma”. Garland’s probably better known as a screenwriter these days, having penned the screenplays for 28 DAYS LATER, SUNSHINE, and adapted Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel NEVER LET ME GO for Mark Romanek’s 2010 film.

DREDD 3D also marks a departure for Garland, striking not only his move into heavy-duty action, but also his increasing presence behind the camera- with him also on board as producer. While Pete Travis (VANTAGE POINT) is the sole credited director, Garland was singled out by star Karl Urban at the film’s Midnight Madness premiere as the strong creative voice behind the film, and I was lucky enough to interview him shortly before the premiere. We talked about the difference between working as a novelist to wring a screenplay and producing, the origins of the character of Judge Dredd, and how Urban’s take differs from Sylvester Stallone’s.

“I think you could easily make a case to say that punk rock and 2000 A.D. [Dredd] are related….I think it’s got a punk sensibility within it.”