*Courtesy of Kevin Winter/Getty Images.*

Taika Waititi, the acclaimed filmmaker behind ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ is set to direct a new feature film adaptation of ‘ Judge Dredd,’ the iconic and gritty comic book character.

The script will be penned by Drew Pearce, known for his action-heavy work on titles like ‘The Fall Guy’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.’

The producing team includes ‘Dredd’ rights holders Chris Kingsley, Jason Kingsley, and Ben Smith of Rebellion Developments, along with Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, Jeremy Platt, Natalie Viscuso, and Pearce himself.

Insiders say that both Waititi and Pearce grew up as fans of the ‘Dredd’ comics. As longtime friends, they have been eager to collaborate and have finally found the perfect project.

‘Judge Dredd’ was created in the late 1970s by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, debuting in the pages of the weekly British anthology ‘2000 AD.’ The character serves as a law enforcement officer in the dystopian Mega-City One, where “Judges” act as judge, jury, and executioner. The comic was conceived as a sharp satire of an authoritarian justice system pushed to the extreme. Its popularity has endured for decades, spawning additional comics, spin-off strips, novels, video and board games, and even commemorative postage stamps in the UK. To date, over 100 million comics and graphic novels have reportedly been sold worldwide.

Hollywood first adapted the character in 1995 with a big-budget film starring Sylvester Stallone, which was met with a lukewarm reception. A later reboot, ‘Dredd’ (2012), featuring Karl Urban and written by Alex Garland (‘28 Days Later’, ‘Civil War’), received a much warmer critical response and has since developed a cult following.

Details about the new film’s story are under wraps, but the approach is said to lean heavily into the original comics’ dark humor and world-building rather than retreading previous screen versions. The vision is to craft a smart, entertaining sci-fi blockbuster that resonates with today’s cultural climate. The team is also aiming to use the film as a springboard for a larger ‘Dredd’ universe, with the potential for sequels and spin-offs across multiple platforms.

MORE NEWS