Karl Urban has previously talked about his interest in taking on the title role in the next Judge Dredd movie adaptation, and now it has been confirmed that Karl is the new Dredd. More details on that movie below, plus video from a new interview with Karl where recalls his favorite moment on the set of Star Trek .
Urban confirmed for new gritty Judge Dredd
Around Comic Con Karl Urban said he was seriously considering taking on the title role for the new Judge Dredd movie, and now the producers have confirmed with Empire Magazine that Urban is on board and the film will shoot in Johannesburg South Africa with director Pete Travis. Producer Andew MacDonald also described how this time it will be different than the 1995 Judge Dredd film headed by Sylvester Stallone:
The main thing about Dredd is that it’s a fantastic comic that was completely messed up 20 years ago. Our idea is to make a very hard, R-rated, gritty, realistic movie of Dredd in Megacity, so we’ve got to get the tone right. He’s not going to take off his helmet. His bike is going to feel real. He’s going to hit people and it’s going to feel real.
Urban is the new Dredd
Karl on JJ Abrams directing Leonard Nimoy
Karl Urban was the first guest on for the new New Zealand talk show Real Late With Kate. The actor talked about preferring to live in New Zealand and his various roles, including Star Trek. He recalled his favorite moment on Star Trek, seeing Leonard Nimoy as Spock and told a funny story about JJ Abrams "attempt to direct" Nimoy. Watch that below (Trek stuff starts around 3:25).
Thanks to KarlUrbanWiki
I probably shouldn’t admit this but I kind of enjoyed the Stallone Dredd movie!
I couldn’t imagine trying to direct Nimoy. He is perhaps one of the most legendary actors in all of Hollywood.
That face is too pretty to hide in a helmet.
Looks like the first paragraph belongs with the Patrick Stuart article…
Yet another Kiwi doing NZ proud !!!
Now pop over to Wanganui and I’ll buy you a Tui,,,
Hic,,,
:oD
Different than the 1995 Judge Dredd, eh? Does that mean it will be good?
Karl was great as McCoy. Let’s hope for more dialogue and of course, humor. In the series, McCoy was the moral conscience of trinity of Kirk, McCoy and Spock. McCoy may lose arguments but his heart was in the right place. Loved McCoy’s passion. Karl does a great job channeling DeForest Kelley without parody.
Didn’t see the Stallone-Dredd movie. But now that Urban is involved, I’m curious about the new film and the comic book. Heck, I liked Urban in “Doom” though I wished it was a better movie. Loved the video game.
Funny story about JJ Abrams trying to direct Leonard Nimoy!
@1
So did I… But I was about 10 at the time so that may not count.
Karl Urban in a darker, grittier Judge Dredd? Can’t wait!
I love this interview!!!!
A contemporary movie in which the lead actor remains masked throughout better have a budget of fifty-six dollars – otherwise the studio will lose money on it.
Can’t wait to see karl as the Judge. I bet he will be great and it will make his star get bigger and when the next Trek comes around it will help with Trek even more.
Great Interview!! Loved Urban in Doom, LOTR and of course Trek!!
Urban really nailed the character of McCoy, more so than any of the other actors, but that’s because his performance was almost an impersonation of DeForest Kelley’s McCoy. Almost. And McCoy has more iconic lines than any character in Star Trek, and Urban used them. It’s a testament to his talent that his performance didn’t become an impersonation, but like I said, it was damned close. And I loved it.
When Quinto tried to do the Spock eyebrow raise, he just couldn’t do it. That man’s brow muscles don’t compare to Nimoy’s. And his voice is much less powerful. I wouldn’t normally suggest it, but I’d like to hear some voice modulation. Just a little, to give Quinto some gravitas. Nimoy had that, Zachary not so much. Please don’t get me wrong, I think he did very well with a really difficult role. When he used Spock’s signature word, “fascinating” I finally felt like he was Spock. Kind of. I just hope they can give him more presence.
I still don’t have a take on Pine’s Kirk. That’s really the most difficult character to play. There really aren’t signature lines with Kirk, aside from his bridge commands. Not really too distinctive. It was really Shatner’s delivery of the dialogue that defined his Kirk. If Pine were to do that it WOULD enter impersonation territory, and that wouldn’t be good. I hope that in the next film, he’ll seem more like Kirk. He wasn’t that convincing in this one, but I still like him and think it might work.
The other characters were so peripheral to me, I don’t really have any complaints. I hope we see more of Scotty, and that means the drinking, brawling Scotty. I still don’t see Pegg as Scotty, but I guess we’ll see. I didn’t mind him. In fact, he was quite likable. But he wasn’t Montgomery Scott.
Wow, I wasn’t expecting to write that much. But I really like Star Trek, in spite of what I’ve just written, and have high hopes for the actors to grow into their roles more with the next film. Urban is already there. The rest have room for improvement.
Sorry to be so verbose and kind of off-topic.
#15:
Voice modulation? Nnh. Remember The Phantom Menace, and how they tried to disguise the fact that Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley don’t sound the same? Remember how fakey it was? I don’t think there’s really anyone out there who can match Leonard Nimoy’s voice, and I think that’s just something we’ll have to accept.
Excellent find. Thanks for sharing it.
Whatever Karl does he’ll be awesome in it.
It’d be cool to have a Judge Dredd movie that shows some respect for the harshness and humor and strangeness of the source material. And I’m sure Urban can handle the role, so it’s all up to the director … we’ll see …
#16
Never saw Phantom Menace, but I’ve worked in a recording studio and it can be done subtly and done well. Trying to make voices sound similar is something completely different than slipping in a little base. Anyway, I’m OK if they don’t try it. Like I said, I hesitate to even think of such a thing, and can still enjoy Quinto’s performance, even if it’s not how I’d like him to do it. Movies are rarely made the way I’d make them. Which is why I lost interest in Star Wars after The Empire Strikes Back.
As for Judge Dredd, the Stallone version was dreadful. I hope the new film doesn’t need a Rob Schneider-like actor for comic relief. I hope the movie doesn’t need comic relief at all. But I wonder how much acting Urban can do if he never removes the mask. Peter Weller managed as Robo Cop, but it’s a tough thing to do.
Agreed, Rob Schneider was so misplaced in the Stallone version. That movie had some great set design and also had the potential of being epic in scale and story. But some terrible plot decisions made the film fall miserably flat.
I am a huge fan of the comics and can’t wait for this version. Oh, and seeing that the movie is going to be shot in my home city was a pleasant surprise :)
I thought all the actors did well in the movie I didn’t have any problems with the way they portrayed the character guess that’s just me
I’m developing a bit of a mancrush on Karl lol
#15, couldn’t agree more about Urban, he nailed the role of McCoy. I liked pretty much everyone in their respective roles. (i’m undecided on Pegg’s Scotty, there’s just something missing which i can’t put my finger on.)
Pine did what he could with the character in my opinion. Like its been said numerous times if he tries to match Shatner’s mannerisms then he’s impersonating a la Kevin Pollack. I think Pine managed to get the right balance of Kirks personality traits as oppose to copying the way that Shatner delivered the role.
I liked Quinto’s Spock, i think he did a good job in a role made so famous by Nimoy, and the fact that Nimoy is in the movie makes it even harder for us to accept Quinto in the role. I think he did well but there were a few moments where he looked like Spock, but just didn’t sound like him. Saying that i couldn’t think of anyone else who would have pulled off the part.
As for Urban’s future projects i wish him all the best, he always comes across as really down to earth from interviews i’ve seen.
Karl is the best!
#1., 9., & 18.
I’m not ashamed to admit that Sandy B in a passable B movie was what did it for me – not that I couldn’t see enumerous ways that the movie could have been better.
#15 and #23
I totally agree about Urban, but I think Pine’s acting was actually the most underrated of the cast.
He did a fantastic job of getting essence of Kirk down but still making him his own, better than any of the rest of the cast.
Zachary’s other (natural?) voice is a much richer baritone (listen to the audiobook). He can go deeper, if he chooses.
I hope Karl Urban does more American mainstream movies from now on and achieves international fame. He is an underrated actor. It would be good if Sylvester Stallone has a cameo so this film pays tribute to the original 1995 classic.
As Judge Dredd, he should be a hardcore badass like Christian Bale in Batman Begins and particularly in The Dark Knight, Daniel Craig in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Matt Damon in the Bourne trilogy and Liam Neeson in Taken.
I hope that they include some of the following villains in this:
Angel Gang, Mean Machine Angel, President Booth, Oola Blint, Judge Cal, Dark Judges, Judge Death, Rico Dredd, Armon Gill, Judge Grice, Morton Judd, Kleggs, Judge Kraken, Stan Lee, PJ Maybe, Nero Narcos, Sov Judge Orlok, Shojun the Warlord, Judge Sinfield
I look forward to some of the following characters as well:
Judge Anderson, Judge Beeny, Judge Buell, Galen DeMarco, Dirty Frank, Chief Judge Fargo, Judge Francisco, Judge Giant, Judge Goodman, Judge Griffin, Judge Guthrie, Judge Hershey, Judge Janus, Judge Karyn, Judge McGruder, Mechanismo, Judge Niles, Judge Rico, Judge Shenker, Judge Silver, Judge Solomon, Judge Volt
I have to admit that the teaser clip of McCoy and Kirk’s first meet sold me on the rest of the movie even before seeing it. Saying that Urban nailed it is an understatement.
That being said, I’m glad he’s given a chance to stretch his arms a bit and give him more roles, as he’s definitely deserving of a long, illustrious Hollywood career.
I’m sold on Pine now, but was hesitant at first. The moment he yelled “Bones” at the end of the movie seemed like he actually channeled Shatner for those 3 seconds.
No offense to Urban, but his chin is smaller than Christina Ricci’s. And for a chin-centric character like Dredd, that’s NOT a good thing.
30, TOS Purist: I want to thank you for coining the term “chin-centric character.”
The idea of keeping a star in a helmet for the entire running time strikes me as iffy, to say the least.
On the other hand, I we didn’t see Darth Vader’s face until his death scene in “Jedi.” It can be done, if the actor has a resonant voice. (Anyone ever see the original “Invisible Man” with Claude Rains?)
I liked the Stallone version too – I never did get the Clint Eastwood version I wanted, but I thought Sly was OK. Didn’t like the liberties they took with Fergie, or unforgiveable stuff like 2 Judges snogging, but hey, never mind!
Nimoy’s voice was an important part of Spock’s presence. Quinto’s ever so slight lisp put me off his performance as Spock. He did a fair job but the voice spoiled it for me.
Karl should make a very good Dredd, he’s certainly got the personona down pat as he’s proved in LOTR & StarTrek, and he’s also got the stuble and as any fan knows, real street Judges dont get time to shave. So long as they keep the rating up and the humour dark & wacky it should be a good film, after all he did a fine job of have hobbits bounce off his armour, can’r see why he can’t do something similar with simps. Do us a favour though production team, take some hints from BSG, District ( ect and give it a few subtle political undertones, all the best Dredd stories make some sort of comment on global or american politics.