Dredd (Karl Urban) prepares to battles with Lex (Langley Kirkwood) and Alvarez (Edwin Perry) in the DREDD movie.
The fans behind the ‘Make A DREDD Sequel’ campaign for a follow-up to the 2012 movie starring Karl Urban are now calling on TV producers to pick up the franchise (although they haven’t lost hope for a film sequel, either).
Superfans Frank Palmer and Brian Ritchie are calling their petition-based campaign ‘Bring Back DREDD’, and are hoping to apply pressure to Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, and other TV producers.
They’re calling on fans to sign the petition – which already stands at 136,000 names – calling for more media based on the Pete Travis and Alex Garland movie, whose dedicated fanbase has continued to grow online as more people discover the hard-edged sci-fi thriller starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, and Lena Headey through DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming services.
They believe that the success of series such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones proves the market for adult-orientated sci-fi, which Dredd provided in spades.
“When Brian and I first began the ‘Make A DREDD Sequel’ page on Facebook we never dreamt we’d get this level of support from fellow fans,” says Palmer. “And when 2000AD got in touch to say they’d like to support us, it was a dream come true and the petition we started has gone on to number 136,000 names.
Last year’s annual Day of Dredd event was our biggest ever, with the campaign going viral on Twitter and Facebook, and thousands upon thousands of people buying the DVD and Blu-Ray to show there’s a market for more from the world of the 2012 movie!
“For a while now we’ve thought about broadening the campaign out – so with things having gone quiet on the possibility of a movie sequel, we’ve decided to take the fight to the TV producers who have done such good jobs with other comic book properties such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
“We’ve discussed this with 2000AD and they’re happy for us to shift our focus to campaigning for a Judge Dredd TV series in the style of the movie. We’re relaunching the petition and we call on all fans of DREDD to join 136,000 other people in calling for people with the vision and the finance to make it happen to step up and give us what we want.
“In the next few days we’ll be organising activities so that people can lobby companies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO, and show their support as we all say – “Bring Back DREDD!”!”
Jason Kingsley, co-owner of Rebellion and 2000AD, said: “What Frank and Brian have achieved over the last three years has been incredible. They’ve kept the fires burning and their decision to open out the campaign to include TV and films is a sensible one. Who amongst us wouldn’t want to see a DREDD series from Netflix or Amazon?
“I wish them all the best and thank them for keeping the faith. In the meantime, we’ve been doing – and will continue to do – all we can to give the fans what they want, which is more from the incredibly rich world of Judge Dredd.”
• Sign the at www.2000ADonline.com/dreddsequel
• The campaign’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bringbackdredd now has more than 100,000 supporters and Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby have both sent the campaign messages of support
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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