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Dredd 3D is "an improvement on Stallone" - SciFiNow

Dredd 3D is “an improvement on Stallone”

Judge Dredd creator John Wagner on Alex Garland’s Dredd 3D, in cinemas from 7 September 2012.

Dredd motion poster
Dredd motion poster
Karl Urban as Judge Dredd in the forthcoming Dredd 3D, out 7 September 2012.

Speaking at Glasgow Comic-Con, Judge Dredd co-creator and longtime Judge Dredd writer John Wagner reassured fans that the forthcoming Dredd 3D, written and produced by 28 Days Later and Sunshine‘s Alex Garland, and starring Star Trek‘s Karl Urban, is definitely up to snuff with the character’s 2000AD counterpart.

“It is such a big improvement on the Stallone version,” Wagner said. “It is pure Dredd. There’s nothing in that movie that you couldn’t say isn’t Judge Dredd. I’m very pleased with it. I saw the rough cut and I was worried about a lot of things in it but I’ve never seen a movie in production before, it’s like seeing an artist’s pencils. The final version is such an improvement. I expect big things from it.”

Though some are put off by the film’s comparatively small budget and indie leanings – Dredd 3D‘s costs being $45 million in 2012, while Judge Dredd‘s were $90 million in 1995 – adjusted for inflation that’s a visor-cracking $140-odd million – roughly about the same as Men In Black 3.

“I think they did as well as they could considering the budget,” Wagner admits. “I was surprised at how well it worked. I was a bit put off by the use of modern day vehicles in the first scene, however considering the restrictions, how could they have recreated that without vast expenditure, in which case you wouldn’t have had a movie. So I’m glad it happened earlier in the film because after that.. I mean, the chase scenes are excellent. I’m glad it happened earlier because after that there’s nothing that stands out like that, nothing that would make you say, ‘oh, c’mon.'”

Check out full coverage from Glasgow Comic-Con from the fantastic Laura Sneddon at ComicBookGrrrl.com.