Merrick again...
THIS piece over at Collider reveals that DREDD is performaing quite well in tis home video rounds, via a nifty press releae from Lionsgate...
The verdict is in and Lionsgate (LGF), a leading global entertainment company, announced today that the home entertainment release of DREDD claimed the number one spot on the DVD sell-through and Blu-ray charts with 650,000 units sold, making it the best-selling new release title of the year. Blu-ray units accounted for nearly 50% of week 1 POS at retail. In addition, the critically acclaimed thriller, starring Karl Urban (Star Trek) as the titular character Judge Dredd , was the top film download for the week, outpacing all other titles in digital sales as well.
If this trend continues, perhaps it'll be interpreted as showing potential/being promising for future installments? Given this information, let's hope at least an openness to the notion is present amongst The Powers That Be. It may be too early to tell, but fingers crossed...
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I loved 2012's DREDD in call kindsa ways. I adored it's unapologetic brutality. I loved how brilliantly it rendered hard ugliness in such beautiful ways. And, when all is said and done, the film may well represent the best use of 3D photography ever put on screen.
Aaaaaaaannnnnnddddddddd.....
It pretty much tanked at the box office. I think this happened for a number of reasons. Primarily, I don't feel the film was sold fully or accurately (the promos failed to capture/convey the energy of the movie). Meaning, potential audiences couldn't fully grasp what might make DREDD work - and cursory teasing did not suit this picture well at all. I've encountered a huge number of people who perceived DREDD to be little more than a "MAD MAX ripoff"...and it's very, very far from that.
All things being equal, a DREDD sequel...hinted at by its makers before the release of the first movie...now seems unlikely. Money matters don't seem to support the notion in many ways at all. However, per THIS piece over at movies.com, DREDD director Pete Travis...who knocked it out of the park so completely with his first forray into Mega-City One...hints that hope may not be entirely lost. This isn't the most positive sense of a DREDD sequel one could hope to find...but it also sounds like the matter isn't entirely closed for discussion at this point.
Travis: Who knows what will happen in the future. I just loved making this one. I hope it's successful enough. I know Alex has lots of other stories he wants to tell, and I think Karl is just the epitome of Dredd. I really hope there's an opportunity to tell some more stories together and take him on another journey.
DREDD looks rather amazing on Blu-ray...it's 3D works incredibly well on home screens, but the set also includes a non 3D version of the project. If you haven't seen it yet, consider giving it a look. Or, if you have seen it and would like to see more of the Urban/Travis/Garland Dreddverse...perhaps Blu-ray sales might make a difference in the grand scheme of things?
Personally, I'd love to see where this team would take future DREDD pictures. And my (admittedly foolish and unlikely) hope is that this might...in some way, some day...happen if DREDD is discovered on home video. As Jack Burton might say..."You never can tell..."
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