Dredd Confirmed To Come Back As A Short Film Instead Of A Sequel

For years after the abomination that was Danny Cannon’s 1995 barely-an-adaptation Judge Dredd, fans had to live with the image of Sylvester Stallone’s face in their minds, replacing the intentional facelessness of the anti-hero from the comics. But then, finally, Pete Travis’ Dredd, with help from Alex Garland’s script, helped replace that image as one of the better, albeit moodier, action films of 2012.

Unfortunately, however, the movie bombed hard enough to justify the elongated gap between films, only making back $35 million worldwide on a $50 million budget. So any talk of a sequel realistically died a whispering death even before the film did surprisingly well on the home video market. But during a recent Reddit AMA, the film’s producer Adi Shankar dropped word that the character is not gone forever, and will instead be reappearing in an upcoming short film.

When asked if there would be a Dredd sequel, Shankar replied, ““Probably not. But I am working on a Dredd short in the vein of #DirtyLaundry ...you're actually the first person to know about this…” No investigative journalism needed on that one.

While it’s one of the lowest ranking forms of silver lining there is, fans should still be enthusiastic. The The Punisher: Dirty Laundry short, directed by Phil Joanou and starring Thomas Jane, that Shankar refers to is a pyramid of stacked over-the-top violence, more in tune with Lexi Alexander’s batshit insane Punisher: War Zone than Jonathan Hensleigh’s take on the vigilante.

There’s no timeline on this thing yet, so you’ll just have to use your imaginations for now. In the meantime, you can watch the Dirty Laundry short below:

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.