The comic book character of Judge Dredd celebrated his 40th anniversary earlier this year, and despite two relatively high profile feature films starring the violent lawman, he has never really caught on with a mainstream audience. But that could soon change thanks to a new Judge Dredd live action TV show.
Comic book TV shows are currently all the rage. Between Marvel’s prestige Netflix offerings, DC’s family-friendly mini-universe on the CW, and AMC’s gory indie offshoots like Preacher and The Walking Dead, it’s hard to find a series these days that didn’t originate on colorfully paneled pages. And while the first Judge Dredd movie failed to click with audiences and the second failed at the box office, a series based on the character could finally explore him and his world of Mega-City One in a way that’s satisfying to everyone.
According to EW, a new series is currently being shopped to networks that’s being developed by Rebellion’s Jason and Chris Kingsley, who executive produced 2012’s Dredd with IM Global’s Stuart Ford, who is also attached to the show. Rounding out the creative team is IM president Mark Stern, who counts the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica reboot among his achievements. With this kind of talent on board, the new series seems like a surefire hit.
The show, called Judge Dredd’s Mega-City One, won’t focus solely on Dredd, but will instead feature an ensemble cast portraying a team of Judges.
“We’re very excited to be beginning the journey to get more of Judge Dredd’s Mega-City One on the television screen,” said the Kingsleys. “Thanks to the legions of fans who have kept up pressure on social media, and a lot of background work and enthusiasm, we aim to make a big budget production that will satisfy both our vast comics audience and the even greater general screen-watching public.”
They’ve even already released a poster for the project, which includes the clever tagline, “Four hundred million citizens, every one a potential criminal.”
Rebellion
No word yet on when or where the series will premiere, but I have no doubt it will find a home somewhere soon.
