confirmed at Comic-Con: dr mccoy is the new judge dredd
Earlier today I got to sit down with Karl Urban after the Red press conference for an exclusive interview. Since I spoke to him on the set of Red for a very long time and got answers on why he wanted to get involved in Red and what it was like on set, at the beginning of the interview we covered some of the new developments on the project but then we jumped into something I really wanted to know: is he going to be the new Judge Dredd (we reported the rumor yesterday) and what’s up with the sequel to J.J. Abrams Star Trek.
The good news is Urban was down to talk about anything and he gave me some awesome updates on both projects. The big news on Star Trek is he’s heard they start filming next summer. He specifically said May or June. And regarding Judge Dredd…he said he’s definitely been offered the role and they are right now working out the deal. He also said the plan is to shoot in South Africa in late October or early November and for fans of the source material, he said the film it will be very faithful and he will NOT be taking off the mask in the film! So much more after the jump!
Further down the page I’ve got the complete transcript with audio, but here’s some of the highlights on his future projects:
Judge Dredd
Has been offered the part by director Pete Travis and they are working out the deal right now. His exact quote:
“I’ve met with Pete Travis, Andrew McDonald and we’ve had a really wonderful meeting of the minds and long story short, they have offered me the role and we’re in the process of making that happen.”
Says, “To have the opportunity to play such an iconic and enigmatic character as Joe Dredd is a phenomenal opportunity and I’m really thrilled and looking forward to getting into it.”
They are going to shoot Dredd in South Africa in late October or early November
Confirms the character will use “great ironic witty one liners set in this futuristic post apocalyptic world.”
Regarding the rating, I asked him if he’s heard if it’s PG-13 or R. Urban said, “I’m honestly not too sure. I have just heard and it’s my understanding that it going to be harder, grittier, and above all faithful to the comic.”
He also confirmed he’s ALWAYS going to be wearing the Mask! If you see his face, it will only be part of it. His response was:
“If anyone is familiar with Dredd, over the years there are many times when Dredd removes his helmet but you never fully see his face and that was construct by the creator, Mr. Wagner. He represents that faceless system of justice and law. I will say this, hypothetically if I went to a movie that was called “Judge Dredd” and the character or the actor who played Judge Dredd took the helmet and I would see his full face and features I would puke in my popcorn because that’s not Dredd. He’s mysterious and enigmatic. We’re going to do it right.”