JUDGE DREDD, the 1995 Sylvester Stallone film, was one of the box-office bombs that almost put the A-list actor completely out of commission in Hollywood. DREDD, the Lionsgate reboot of the franchise starring Karl Urban, was supposed to reverse the fortune of the unfortunate Stallone film but this film looks like it might be felled by some of the same struggles as its predecessor.
The LA Times is reporting that director Pete Travis has been booted from the editing room by angry executives and has been replaced by the film’s writer, Alex Garland. Post-production has gotten so contentious, they say, that Garland may seek a co-director credit on the film.
The struggles seemed to begin when Travis began working in the edit bay and producers realized they didn’t like the footage they had or how Travis was cutting it. A source said that Travis is being kept up-to-date on the film’s progress via the internet. It’s also possible that the film could see some significant reshoots, without Travis as the director.
It’s not unheard of for a director to get bumped out of his seat at the edit bay but on some projects it never gets made public. Steven Spielberg famously filled in for Tobe Hooper on POLTERGEIST. Stephen Sommers was also allegedly bumped during the making of GI JOE. More recently Mike Newell was locked out of the editing room by Jerry Bruckheimer after the producer didn’t like his first cut of the film.
The question is, how will DREDD rebound? Can Garland, who has no experience as a director or an editor, fix the film?
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