Why Hollywood’s Fear of Risk Means No Dredd 2 Will Ever Happen

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A recent search through my DVD library turned up 2012’s buried gem of a movie Dredd.

Watching that movie again made me ponder on the ongoing decline of Hollywood. If you haven’t seen Dredd yet (which seems to be the case for many), I’ll give you a brief overview.

The second movie adaptation of a popular British comic book character, known for his law enforcement role – with the initial being the largely forgettable 1995 film starring Sylvester Stallone – titled “Dredd“, held promise as a specialized, mid-tier market success. This independent production was made on a minimal budget, which forced it to avoid the bloat typically associated with comic book franchise films, offering instead a lean and fast-paced action film that felt remarkably fresh. Regrettably, due to the industry’s relentless pursuit of blockbusters, the mid-tier market has become obsolete, causing “Dredd” to flop at the box office.

After reading the article on ebaster.ru, it’s clear that Dredd was the antithesis of a cape movie we didn’t necessarily deserve but couldn’t help appreciating. The reviewer accurately notes that this film lacked any self-indulgent information overloads and instead delivered action sequences that were meticulously timed and choreographed. I would even add that the action in Dredd is effective because it is true action, not the senseless violence often found in many action films. The remarkably well-developed characters of Judges Dredd and Anderson contrasting with the ruthless Ma-Ma transforms what could have been mere gore into a meaningful struggle.

If you haven’t watched “Dredd” yet, treat yourself today by catching up with it. For a thoughtfully matched pair of movies, consider watching “The Raid: Redemption,” a 2011 film from Indonesia that shares many similarities in plot and conflict with “Dredd.” Some even believe it might have served as the inspiration for “Dredd’s” storyline.

Enthusiasts of Judge Dredd comics and films were eagerly demanding a sequel even as the original movie concluded its brief stint in cinemas. Unfortunately, it seems that such a sequel won’t materialize, which is typical in this topsy-turvy world we live in. Here, producer Adi Shankar elucidates another Hollywood Formula to help us understand mathematically why another Dredd film remains elusive.

For those who can’t watch videos, understanding why the character Dredd met his end is straightforward. A movie needs to meet a certain condition to be produced, and that condition can be expressed as follows:

(Creative Interest + Financial Feasibility = Movie Production)

Cost < D + I + S

In this context, let’s denote “D” as the estimated domestic worth of the film, “I” as its international value, and “S” as the amount of government subsidies or rebates it receives. This simplifies understanding by using common terms for easier comprehension.

These days, if a movie’s cost exceeds D + I + S, it doesn’t get made.

Focus particularly on the role of yourself (I) in that equation. Over time, Hollywood has increasingly leaned on earnings from international box offices due to a growing disdain towards their domestic audience. As Shankar notes, your contribution to a movie’s worth was around 10 percent in the 90s, but it soared to as much as 60 percent by 2015. Already, Shankar had noticed that the Chinese market had started to decline, with the poor performance of Mouse Wars in China being a clear example.

The future of Hollywood seems to be continuing in a less favorable direction. They’ve moved away from catering to their traditional audience, ignored the demand for mid-budget films, and placed too much faith in an uncertain income source from emerging markets, which has yet to yield significant returns.

Get the popcorn.

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2025-04-04 20:45