First Photo of Karl Urban as Judge Dredd

Posted by on November 19th, 2010   Filed under: Action, Books/Comics, Sci-fi

I’ve definitely been curious about the upcoming Judge Dredd reboot ever since it was announced that Alex Garland (28 Days Later) was writing the script. It’s not necessarily going to be difficult to top the 1995 Sylvester Stallone film, but I think this new movie will face an uphill battle in trying to erase memories of Stallone drawling “I am the law!” from people’s minds. Fortunately, they’ve got Karl Urban on board for the lead role, and I think he’s definitely a great choice. Today we’ve finally got our first look at Urban in the full costume, and it looks pretty awesome if you ask me.

The blurry photo was tweeted from the U.K. set of the film by comic book artist Jock just a few short hours ago. The outfit doesn’t look all that different from Stallone’s, just a little less plastic-y and more closely resembling bulletproof armor. Incidentally, Karl Urban was recently rumoured as being under consideration to star in a new Batman TV series, if you can believe it.

The film is apparently being called simply Dredd, and it is being directed by Pete Travis (Vantage Point). It is being shot in 3-D and is planned for release sometime in 2012. Does this image get you excited about a new Judge Dredd flick?



  • Cassandra

    The original was hilarious.

  • Bas

    I’m not a fan of the comic, but in my opinion Stallone was perfect for that role. In the same way that Brandon Routh was a great Superman, even though the movie sucked balls.

  • Ben

    Looks good (apart from the helmet looking slightly too big)

    However, it being shot in 3D kills almost any interest I have because, well, 3D sucks.

  • TheAllKnowingGod

    Helmet is way to big. His head looks like a peanut.

    Stallone was perfect for Dredd. Needed a better director/writer/studio.

  • fredhead

    Here’s how Dredd would look with the correct uniform – live action clip:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=227D97ZmnmQ ]

    Looks credible to me. Why change something that wasn’t broken in the first place? Tsk, typical film makers, have to change things. Sigh.

  • kyri

    I am a BIG fan of the original movie.

    I got it in my collection and I love revisiting it every now or then.

    The Practical fx in it are AWESOME especially the big robot killer..

    Really good stuff and I cannot understand why people didn’t like it back then.

    This looks like a new approach but I doubt if its going to beat the original

  • Ben

    I enjoy the original but to say that Stallone was perfect for the role is kind of silly. For starters(and I don’t know if they’re correcting it in this one), Dredd should be British. It’s a British comic and I’d like to see them keep that. Second, while from the neck up, Stallone looked the part, he simply isn’t tall enough and regardless of platform shoes and creative camera angles he didn’t LOOK tall enough on screen.

  • kyri

    anyways.. I am the law

  • Hugo

    This movie will suck it long and hard. There’s already a flash gordon look alike coming with, Thor.

  • Peter

    At least they got the helmet right. It may look a tad over sized but it used to change size in the comics due to different artists drawing the character. I think Urban looks the part. The best ever Dredd movie that wasn’t actually Judge Dredd was Robocop. That’s the movie that really got the spirit just right. The best depiction of Mega City One that wasn’t Mega City One? Blade Runner. If they draw influence from both of these flicks, then this reboot could be terrific.

  • Duke Togo

    Actually the helmet is the correct size for riding a motorcycle, which most of the Judges use to patrol. The entire uniform was designed with motorcycle use in mind. The lawgiver sidearm holsters in the judge’s boot for quick access while mounted on a Lawmaster motorcycle. The inspiration for the helmet was the movie poster for Deathrace 2000 with Carradine in the faceless Frankenstein mask/helmet. I wish the badge was less like the 95 movie badge.

  • Kurei

    It doesn’t look bad, though I still would’ve preferred a full helmet that doesn’t show his mouth, with a way to reveal his full face. Yea not like the comic, but comic book designs are weird, they may look awesome in the comic but when done in the real world they look pretty bad.

  • Duke Togo

    The gold shield on the top of the helmet is a respirator that slides down to cover the mouth, maybe that will be shown in the film.

  • I am the jaw

    I fear the uniform makes a slight joke out of Dredd. Judge Dredd is the ultimate cop of a vast 22nd century future city – Mega-City 1. The new uniform looks like it was made in the last century!

    :P

    Back to the drawing board!

  • Possum Hunter

    Not sure that Urban fits the bill but will reserve judgement until I see a trailer at least. Personally I’d cast an imposing unknown in the lead (and keep the helmet on this time) and surround him with a charismatic supporting cast. After all Dredd is really the straight man surrounded by a bunch of whackos in Mega City one. I read the original script by Bill Wisher for Stallone’s version and it was great, so much better than what ended up on screen which was a real pity.

  • miriam saint john

    i dont even care about the movie as long as karl urban is in whatever movie im gonna watch it coz hes hot…and i love him compare to stallone yuck hes got a nasty vein..but karl is the best hes very sexy ..hes one hunky actor ever…