Michael Bay should direct a new Judge Dredd film

[bayfan]

Judge Dredd - imho the greatest action hero of them all. I wrote two Dredd screenplays and it would be a dream come true if someone like Mr Bay read them and showed them to a studio.

Essentially Dredd is Dirty Harry meets Star Wars - that's the vision, the scale. It's nothing like the Sylvester Stallone Dredd film from 1995. That was a goofy version. A proper Dredd film would have Dredd as a tough but fair Judge trying to stop crime in an insane future city called Mega-City 1. I know Mr Bay will never consider my screenplays nor any studio accept unsolicted submissions but Dredd has so much potential.
This is a mock Dredd poster I created (based on an exiting image, I modified it):

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6...ieimagepos.jpg

"Judge Joe Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running (having been featured there since its second issue in 1977). Dredd is a law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner. Dredd and his fellow Judges are empowered to arrest, sentence and even execute criminals on the spot. He was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, although editor Pat Mills also deserves some credit for his early development.

Judge Dredd is amongst Britain's best known home-grown comic characters. So great is the character's reputation that his name is sometimes invoked over similar issues to those explored by the comic series, such as the police state, authoritarianism and the rule of law.[1] Judge Dredd was named the seventh greatest comic character by the magazine Empire."

Wikipedia

I guarantee Mr Bay a proper Dredd film would rival Transformers and other classic sci-fi films.

[nelson]

Only 2 people know about Judge whatever. From your description, you seem to think he is as or more popular than SPider Man, Super Man, and Bat Man.

I think Michael should direct what he wants, and not direct failed franchises or sloppy seconds.

[kevski]

And something original.

[Trigger Mike]

I think Judge Dredd should remain buried. Or prepare to be judged...harshly!

[bayfan]

Can I just stress the point that Dredd is NOT the Dredd of the original Stallone film. It's far better than that. Look at it this way, does Michael Bay like Dirty Harry? The Clint Eastwood films where he starred as Harry Callahan, the tough cop. Well, Dredd is like that but 1000 times tougher. Now imagine Blade Runner, the classic Ridley Scott sci--fi film. Dredd's world is similar to that.

I know people will dismiss Dredd as "that crappy Stallone film" or not know anything about the actual comic book character, it's British, so it's not as well-known as Spider-man, Batman but Dredd is the ultimate anti-hero. He will arrest you for jaywalking, littering. In Dredd's world there are robots, muties, block wars, futies (perps which go crazy) boingers (perps encased inside rubber and go on crime sprees) juve (young people) riots, mob blitzers (hitmen working for mobs and they explode if caught). There's Judge Death, the most evil villain you'll ever see - he believes all life is a crime and wishes to wipe it out! Dredd's world is full of 400 million people living in huge tower blocks, each block like a mini-city itself, and crime is rampant! It's an epic world and ripe for a deserving movie version.

I do believe a proper Dredd film would be fantastic, but it's near impossible for any studio to ever greenlight the project. If someone like Mr Bay could read my screenplays he would see the potential. A new Dredd film is in pre-production but it's not going to work because it's being funded by Fox Searchlight and they won't provide enough budget to make Dredd work. As I say, Dredd is (put simply) Dirty Harry meets Star Wars. That's the look and feel of the character although Dredd is set in one city rather than on several planets.

It might be worth Mr Bay reading this actual Dredd strip to see what he thinks of the PROPER Dredd, as seen in 2000 AD comic:

The Forever Crimes, by John Wagner and Brian Bolland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/200.../dredd01.shtml

It's six pages long so it's a short story.

That's a classic Dredd story, in the sense it sums up Dredd's world, how he works as a future cop, how he looks, how the city looks etc.

If Mr Bay read that and says "hmm, that's quite good" he's welcome to read my screenplays. I'm no pro-screenwriter and I have no connection with Rebellion, the company which owns and publishes 2000AD comic, in which Dredd appears. But if Mr Bay read my Dredd screenplays it might ignite a flame of interest, he might see the huge potential of a proper Dredd film and who knows what could happen. If Dredd is ever to work it needs someone like Mr Bay and a studio and ILM doing the effects. It's a huge sci-fi film with an anti-hero cop as the star (plus he never takes off his helmet!). It's a huge challenge to make but with the right screenplay and director it could be great. If you enjoy the Forever Crimes, imagine a full length movie with a huge plot, action.

[bayfan]

May I add one quick reply...

Could I be allowed to post two samples from my two Dredd screenplays to show the potential of a proper Dredd movie? If Mr Bay reads the short samples he will know if there's any potential and gauge my writing ability. I did register them with the Writer's Guild of America a few years ago although I have no copyright over Dredd. Just to add one other quick point... Dredd is American and the city is called Mega-City 1 (which covers the eastern seaboard of the US). Although Dredd is in a British comic the character itself is 100 percent American.

I know the chances of some guy writing a sci-fi screenplay and then suggesting a top Hollywood director read it and consider it are incredibly small if not zero (!) but if he reads the two samples he might be convinced of the potential of a proper Dredd film. Mr Bay has a website forum so I thought I'd try my luck. I'll understand if the answer is no and I'm not allowed to post the samples on this thread. For what my opinion is worth, and I accept it's highly subjective, I think Mr Bay could love Dredd if he knew more about its potential.

[snipperoth]

Did you read the thread "read before posting"?
becuase you can't apply for a job here

[bayfan]

No, I didn't read the "read before posting" bit! I guess it states "don't try and promote your work here" or something. LOL

Would anyone like to read the samples? You might think "hey, this could work for Michael. Could be something he'd consider."

No?

Okay, well you can't blame a person for trying. It's like trying to win the lottery. Post on a top Hollywood director's website and try and convince him to A) read your screenplays and B) want to make them. And of course there's C) I don't own Dredd. But the end of my I AM THE LAW Dredd screenplay is Dredd and his judges fighting an army of robots. It's not so far removed from Transformers. Although Dredd is a darker character.

[armageddon]

Judge Dredd - imho the greatest action hero of them all. I wrote two Dredd screenplays and it would be a dream come true if someone like Mr Bay read them and showed them to a studio.

Essentially Dredd is Dirty Harry meets Star Wars - that's the vision, the scale. It's nothing like the Sylvester Stallone Dredd film from 1995. That was a goofy version. A proper Dredd film would have Dredd as a tough but fair Judge trying to stop crime in an insane future city called Mega-City 1. I know Mr Bay will never consider my screenplays nor any studio accept unsolicted submissions but Dredd has so much potential.
This is a mock Dredd poster I created (based on an exiting image, I modified it):

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6...ieimagepos.jpg

"Judge Joe Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running (having been featured there since its second issue in 1977). Dredd is a law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner. Dredd and his fellow Judges are empowered to arrest, sentence and even execute criminals on the spot. He was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, although editor Pat Mills also deserves some credit for his early development.

Judge Dredd is amongst Britain's best known home-grown comic characters. So great is the character's reputation that his name is sometimes invoked over similar issues to those explored by the comic series, such as the police state, authoritarianism and the rule of law.[1] Judge Dredd was named the seventh greatest comic character by the magazine Empire."

Wikipedia

I guarantee Mr Bay a proper Dredd film would rival Transformers and other classic sci-fi films.

I like Judge Dredd too (I even like the Stallone version to a degree, if only as a guilty pleasure), and I think Michael could make an amazing Dredd film, but it would take a major name interested in the lead role I think to get it off the ground.

Who knows... Perhaps if JONAH HEX and Aronofsky's ROBOCOP reboot do well, the studios will go for such a revival.

I get the impression the studios are into producing the bigger comic properties and their subsequent sequels for the most part right now, however (atleast regarding what they're prepared to invest.)

[bayfan]

Hooray! A Dredd fan on this very forum. LOL I thought I was the only one.

Dredd could be amazing if done right. I hope you don't mind my saying this but I think my two Dredd screenplays would or could work. I've been reading Dredd for close on two decades and I wrote them because I wanted something faithful. I think Dredd would be tough to make because the character never shows his face, he is a fascist cop upholding a fascist system of government so, in essence, it's a very bleak vision of the future. But there's tons of action and humour to offset the darker elements of Dredd's world.

At the present moment in time, Rebellion - the British games company behind such console hits as Aliens vs Predator - have a deal with British film production company DNA Films and US studio Fox Searchlight to make a new Dredd film but DNA Films last sci-fi move 'Sunshine' got a tiny distribution deal in the US and it tanked. The budget was 40 million dollars and that isn't enough to really bring Dredd's world to life and do it justice. As you say, you would most likely need a bigger star or big name director to convince a studio like Dreamworks or Warner Bros to greenlight a new Dredd film and it would have to depend on a good screenplay. A studio head would most likely say, "Dredd? You want us to make a new movie based on that Stallone movie from the 90s? It didn't do well at the box office!" All I can say is there's huge potential in a proper Dredd film and if done right with a decent screenplay, decent lead actor and director, it could be very big. I accept a movie about a fascist cop of the future, one who never takes his helmet off, is a bit of a hard sell to a studio but if anyone has read the great Dredd stories you'll know it's a great property - certainly up there with the likes of Batman, Superman, The Matrix etc. It's a great concept - a Dirty Harry type cop of the future, plus the writers of the original Robocop admitted they more or less copied the essence of Dredd to create their law enforcer! When Robocop says, "you're coming with me, dead or alive, creep" that's really Dredd's way of speaking! Dredd also refers to perps as "creeps" or "punks." And Dredd came first. Dredd was created in 1977, Robcop was released in 1987.

Without wishing to be guilty of overhyping it, I would say if Michael Bay wanted the ultimate sci-fi challenge it would be making a proper Dredd film. It's got everything - one of the coolest, toughest heroes ever, a huge epic canvas: the city of Mega-City - home to 400 million potential perps, a huge Justice Department (that's the Judge force), weird crimes never done before in movies and some very black humor too. If Mr Bay reads some classic Dredd stories once he's finished promoting Transformers 2 he might see its potential. If he did see its potential he would have a great challenge. Blade Runner/Star Wars meets Dirty Harry. That's quite a movie concept, isn't it! I'm sure he'd love to create that kind of movie. But he'd have to read some classic Dredds, dare I say read a sample of my screenplays (sorry for the blatant promotion!) , and 'get' it. If he got it, understood Dredd, well, who knows what could happen. I'm certain a Michael Bay, Dreamworks/Universal, ILM effects Dredd movie - with a fairly big name actor, perhaps someone like Ron Perlman, could be very big. My screenplays have tons of action - the first action scene is 25 pages long (!) -it's a huge action sequence to establish Dredd's world with sky pirates trying to steal sugar, which is an illegal substance in Dredd's world.

Here is a tiny sample from my I AM THE LAW screenplay to show I am 100 percent genuine about my screenplays and how I believe they can work. Dredd has just foiled a sugar heist. Perps have tried to steal sugar from a huge roadliner truck.

EXT. HEMINGWAY SHOPPERA COMPLEX - DAY
Justice Department services at the crime scene. Med, Clean-Up, Catch and Meat wagons present. Med-Judges (attired in different uniforms) attend to the injured. The dead are placed in the Meat wagons. The sugar rioters are being processed by the Judges and put inside the Catch wagons. Tek-Judges (in different uniforms) analyze the sugar compounds with their equipment.
Dredd arrives at the crime scene on his Lawmaster. A Judge named RAINER stands near the burnt remains of jetpacker#3.
JUDGE RAINER
Dredd. Take a look at this.
Dredd dismounts his Lawmaster and walks over to the corpse. The perp’s helmet has been removed to reveal the face of an ugly.
RAINER
Your handiwork I presume?
DREDD
Hardly. More the work of a face change machine. Creeps alter their appearance to hide their true identity.
RAINER
And there was I thinking ugly was the fashion these days.
Dredd does not rise to the comment.
DREDD
Must have been planning this operation for quite sometime.
RAINER
You know what the demand for sugar is like.
Dredd bends down and places a grain of sugar onto a gloved finger. He rubs his finger and thumb over the sugar and it disperses.
DREDD
Can’t see its appeal.
RAINER
Who understands the citizens?
DREDD
The roadliner driver... he give you any leads?
RAINER
(shakes head)
Dead. Killed on impact. Records have him as Hernest Peeve, unemployed of Gabor Conapts. No previous form. And the roadliner‘s not registered to any known company. It’s fake. No leads.
DREDD
There might be. One of the other uglies I arrested. In intensive care. If he survives he’ll talk. One way or another.
A TEK-JUDGE is analyzing the sugar on the ground with his scanalyzer. The device collects samples via a suction tray and scans their molecular structure. The Tech-Judge walks over to the two Judges.
TEK-JUDGE
Interesting. This sugar’s like nothing I have seen before.
DREDD
And?
TEK-JUDGE
These sugar particles contain unprecedented levels of Sweetox, the illegal food appetite inducer. Fascinating!
DREDD
I’ll take your word for it.
TEK-JUDGE
The inducer greatly exacerbates the sugar’s addictive properties, resulting in extreme anti-social behaviour when consumed.
Dredd looks at the citizens still rolling on the ground fighting each other for the sugar. Judges are struggling to arrest and contain them.
On scene:
PERP
(to Judge, as he scoops up loads of sugar)
Trying to steal mine would you! Get your Gruddamn own!
A Judge wrestles with the perp.
DREDD
In other words, sugar crazies.
TEK-JUDGE
Precisely. This sugar’s also heavily refined. The health risks cannot be underestimated.
DREDD
The city of Brasilia is the leading producer of sugar.
RAINER
You think they’re wanting a bigger share of the market here?
DREDD
It’s possible.
CONTROL JUDGE (O.S.)
(through Dredd’s helmet mike)
Control to any unit, vicinity Abraham Lincoln Block. Level 48, appartment number 1732B. Citizen amok.
DREDD
(into helmet mike)
Dredd here, I’ll take it. (to Judge) Keep me informed, Rainer.
Rainer nods. Another Judge walks by escorting a group of cuffed sugar-perps towards a Catch wagon. A MAN breaks free from the group.
MAN
All I want is one more tiny spoonful! Is that such a crime?
He bends down desperate to have one more taste.
DREDD
Try the sweet taste of the law instead.
Dredd hits him hard on the head with his daystick.
DREDD (CONT’D)
Consumption of contraband sugar. Six months.
The man spits the sugar from his mouth and falls to the ground dazed. He giggles and starts foaming at the mouth.
MAN
Why not try some? It’s improved my life no end!
A Judge drags him away. Dredd races off on his Lawmaster leaving the units to tidy up the crime scene.

------------------------
That is an actual scene from my I AM THE LAW screenplay. I hope it shows you how Dredd works, the procedure of a Judge, plus there's some humor thrown in too. Dredd's world is meant to be a mix of law vs anarchy and crazy humor. Mega-City 1 is more or less an insane city, on the brink of total anarchy.

My lifelong ambition is to see a proper Dredd movie. This is why I wrote my screenplays. I would love Mr Bay to consider them or just read them when he's finished promoting Transformers 2. I'm convinced if he liked them I could contact Rebellion and persuade them to stall the DNA Films deal. DNA Films have an option to make Dredd 2 but the option won't last forever. If Michael could consider my screenplays then who knows, perhaps he could approach Rebellion with an offer to direct Dredd 2 and with proper studio funding. As I say, it's all down to the quality of the screenplays, are they faithful to Dredd, would they appeal to people with no knowledge of Dredd, are they exciting, epic scale. I believe my screenplays can deliver that but I need someone like Michael to read them and see their potential. As was illustrated here, when I mentioned Dredd people said "I think Michael should direct what he wants, and not direct failed franchises or sloppy seconds." so it's a huge uphill battle for me to convince anyone that Dredd is worth making, but if people, such as Mr Bay, actually read my screenplays they would see if it's worth pursuing. As I say, I am 100 percent serious about this. I am a huge Dredd fan. The character is the greatest comic creation to come out of the UK and deserves a proper movie.

Sorry for the longish post but I just wanted to express how I feel. Hope no-one minds.

[kevski]

I've got nothing against Judge Dredd and I understand where you're coming from... I'm just fed up of people suggesting Bay to direct Judge Dredd, Robocop, Predator etc. Something original and not a franchise would be much better.

A smaller action film like Bad Boys or The Rock or totally non-action.

[bayfan]

Deep down I don't think Bay would be interested in Dredd. For a start the first movie was kind of a flop so it's doubtful any big studio would ever want to make a new movie, and secondly Dredd is a fascist cop of the future. He upholds the law but it's not a democratic law. The Judges don't believe in democracy. Although there are aspects to Dredd which could appeal to some, such as the notion of instant justice - littering on the streets: three months! - stuff like that - Dredd is the opposite of all current comic book to movie heroes. Dredd isn't a good guy nor is he inherently bad, if you break the law you do time in the isolation cubes (iso-cubes) but if you're honest he won't come down on you. I don't think that sort of character would appeal to Bay or a big studio because Dredd isn't conventionally good and it might be hard to sell that to a movie going public accustomed to the likes of Batman and Spider-man - characters with defined morality. Batman fights crime because his parents died. Spider-man fights crime because he was given a special power. Dredd doesn't have much of a moral code - he merely upholds the law and that's it.

[Johnd818]

My head hurts...

[bayfan]

Seeing all the crappy reviews for Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, I don't think I would want Bay to ruin Dredd. I'm sure he's talented but the idea of seeing Transformers farting : Ain't It Cool News review comment: " Check out robot farting, robot crying and giant, clanging robo-testicles. Oh yeah." :wtf doesn't sound that great. I'm sure he'd ruin a property as great as Dredd. No offence meant. Let him stick with crappy robot toys. LOL

[nelson]

Seeing all the crappy reviews for Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, I don't think I would want Bay to ruin Dredd. I'm sure he's talented but the idea of seeing Transformers farting : Ain't It Cool News review comment: " Check out robot farting, robot crying and giant, clanging robo-testicles. Oh yeah." :wtf doesn't sound that great. I'm sure he'd ruin a property as great as Dredd. No offence meant. Let him stick with crappy robot toys. LOL

Have you seen the movie?

Dredd was ruined by Stallone ages ago.

[lightning]

well I just hope he does transformers 3 first before he works on something else.

[Gabriel]

From 2000AD:
Judge Dredd Movie is Green Lit!

Rebellion and 2000 AD are proud to announce that Judge Dredd is coming to a cinema near you soon!

Together with DNA Films, the movie production company behind such great sci-fi movies such as Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later, Judge Dredd will go into production in 2009.

Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director said, ‘We can’t give away too many details at this point, but we’re looking forward to working with DNA Films to bring Judge Dredd back to the big screen.’

We’ll keep you up to date with breaking news as it happens!

[StuntDriver]

I never liked Judge Dredd at all, personal opinion though. So I'd rather he didn't do it.

[pearllharbourwasntthatbad]

I just hate Sylvester Stallone