I 'Dredd' Telling You This: We Have A Long Wait Before The 'Dredd' TV Show Comes To Our Screens

Cult enthusiasts and #comicbook fans everywhere may remember a recent flurry of excitement, when IM Global announced its plans to resurrect the acclaimed #Dredd series and bring us a grimy TV adaptation. Since then, we have been told to sit patiently in the dark, and I now have some unfortunate news that will surely fill your hearts with "Dredd."

No, it isn't that #KarlUrban still hasn't been cast, but something altogether more worrying. Despite high hopes that they would be fast tracking Judge: Dredd Mega-City One into production, it seems our wait is only just beginning. The doors to the Grand Hall of Justice have been closed and it sounds like we have been given a life sentence of waiting.

Getting ready for dredd.

Although we are promised a much more sprawling look at the underbelly of the world's most populated city, a bigger production apparently isn't without its setbacks. Speaking to SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar), franchise producer Jason Kingsley had words of hope and despair in equal measure for Mega-City One:

“Long-form storytelling makes showing Mega-City One and its inhabitants much easier. Trying to fit all of that into a two-hour movie is very hard. My best guess is that it’s at least two years away. But we’re so early in the process that things could happen a bit faster, or much more slowly.”

The Dredd character will always be remembered for his corny 1995 film when #SylvesterStallone wore the badge of justice, however, there was then Lionsgate's more colorful reboot 17 years later. Featuring and an all-star cast of Urban, Lena Headey, and Domhnall Gleeson, the Dredd film may have divided audiences and underperformed at the box office, but it still created some major chatter.

After developing a cult following, and with promises of a possible sequel, Dredd promised to hop back on his bike for more brutal action some day — but it seems that that day will now be in 2019.

Use your dredd.

As co-producer on the Lionsgate reboot and executive producer on the new era of Dredd, Kingsley's credentials certainly seem to fit the party. However, where both live-action films struggled with certain aspects, will Mega-City One learn from its predecessors' mistakes? Based off the 2000 AD comic — which began in 1977 — there is an infinite number of epic stories that you could pull from the pages of Dredd, which is presumably why we have gone down the small screen route. Hoping to differentiate itself from what came before, it also sounds like Kingsley is ready to accept Dredd's more unique moments:

"Dark fantasy elements are one area that would be great to explore. The show will combine the macabre with the insane and the light-hearted. It's a big place, after all, with 400 million stories to tell."

While we shouldn't expect Dredd to go completely Game of Thrones and fully embrace its fantasy backdrop, it could be refreshing to see more of the story's hyper-reality. As for that crucial title role, the producer dodged the Urban bullet, but said that he knows him "well enough to have a chat with him."

Even with Kingsley promising that production is full speed ahead, we still can't take much solace in having to wait another two years for the show. Given that we last saw Mega-City in 2012, by the time we suit back up it will be at least seven years later. That being said, while some franchises have waned in their popularity, any mention of the word "Dredd" has constantly piqued the interest of the internet.

With the likes of Sin City, Dredd, and Watchmen making the move from theaters and into our living rooms, it looks like the more accepting brutality of network television is finally cashing in on the #superhero cash cow. While all three entities were limited in their scope to feature films, we are promised some violent delights with their move to TV. As some of my favorite franchises out there, I'll be sure to tune in week after week, no matter how long I have to wait!

(Source: GamesRadar)