Karl Urban: The director of Dredd wasn’t the person credited

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The sci-fi action comic book adaptation DREDD was one of the coolest movies to be released in recent years, but if you've been crediting director Pete Travis for bringing that awesomeness to the screen, star Karl Urban wants you to know you've been giving credit to the wrong person (which would be understandable, since that's apparently what the movie itself did).

Speaking with JoBlo's own Paul Shirey, Urban revealed that the person who deserved the credit is screenwriter Alex Garland, who did more than write the script: 

A huge part of the success of DREDD is in fact due to Alex Garland and what a lot of people don’t realize is that Alex Garland actually directed that movie.

… I just hope when people think of Alex Garland’s filmography that DREDD is the first film that he made before EX MACHINA. You think about it in those terms; it goes DREDD, EX MACHINA, ANNIHILATION."

Urban played the title character in the film, which had the following synopsis:

The America of the post-apocalyptic future is an irradiated wasteland, a vast, ultraviolent world where criminals control the mean city streets. Ultimate law enforcers like Dredd and his new partner, Anderson, are Judges—the only force battling for justice. Dispatched by the central authority, the Judges target is Ma-Ma, a ruthless boss bent on expanding her criminal empire through sales of Slo-Mo, a dangerous reality-altering drug. With Dredd calling the shots, the two Judges declare full-scale war on crime in this unrelenting and brutal three-dimensional thrill ride.

Urban is hoping to play the character again someday, and it would "rock his world" if he could work with Garland on another Dredd project. Currently, he's waiting to see what's going to happen with the potential Dredd TV show, Mega City One.

I would dearly love to have the opportunity to get in there and play that again. There are so many wonderful stories in the 2000 A.D./Judge Dredd canon that we’d be remiss not to have the opportunity to tell them. If it were up to me personally we would have been making Dredd 2 two years ago.

The rights holders [Producer Brian Jenkins and Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley ] are in their process of developing their show called Mega City One and we’ve had many discussions and the ball’s in their court. Hopefully, they get it together and are able to deliver more of what the audience wants and it would certainly be a privilege and a pleasure to be a part of it."

Personally, I would love to see Mega City One with Urban in the role of Dredd – that way we wouldn't just get a feature length sequel, instead we'd get to see a whole lot of Dredd stories play out with Urban as the character.