10 Biggest Movie & TV News This Week (7 December)

By James Garcia /

6. Dredd Film To Receive Comic Book Sequel

Though it may not have performed admirably at the box office, the 2012 Dredd film starring Karl Urban struck a chord with audiences and critics alike and found success on home video. Fans have been adamant about their desire to see Urban under the helmet once more in a sequel, and both Urban and Dredd director Pete Travis have remained optimistic that it may one day happen. Unfortunately, the news about the upcoming sequel, Dredd: Underbelly, will both excite and disappoint fans. The good news? It will be a sequel to the 2012 film. The bad news? It's not a movie, but a comic book. The sequel story was written by Arthur Wyatt and Henry Flint, and was published as three serialized installments in Judge Dredd Magazine, which is solely published in the UK. Thanks to the buzz surrounding the first film in the US, the comic will be making its way stateside in January 2014.

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THR spoke with 2000AD editor Matt Smith, who gave his reasons for bringing the comic to US audiences:
"We've noted a real swell of U.S. interest in Dredd off the back of the film. This first foray for 2000AD in producing a U.S.-format book, geared specifically to the direct market, and aimed at satisfying those demanding a sequel, is a stumm gas grenade-style lob across the Atlantic to show that you don't have to camp outside your local multiplex to get your next fix of Mega-City One €” the Judge will carry on enforcing the Law through the pages of the comic. Arthur and Henry have created a terrific story, and a powerful follow-up to the film. Dredd fans won't be disappointed."
The comic is a direct sequel to the 2012 film, and according to Wyatt, "follows pretty closely with the end of the movie - the repercussions of the fall of Ma-Ma are still being felt. Anderson has really come into her own and Dredd will actually be brought into one of her cases in this one."