Reliance backs $45 million Dredd tale

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Production News

India's Reliance Big Pictures is to make its most Hollywood movie yet having agreed to finance a 3-D picture based on the Judge Dredd comic book characters.

The film is being produced by the UK's DNA from a script by Alex Garland (The Beach) on a $45 million budget put together by Reliance and IM Global, the sales company that Reliance bought into only last week.

Pete Travis (Omagh, Vantage Point and Endgame) will direct with Dredd's co-creator John Wagner as creative consultant. A cast has not been assembled, though producers Garland, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich have announced an autumn 2010 shoot date in Johannesburg.

Michael Murphy (District 9) has been hired as South African co-producer, while Jason Kingsley and Chris Kingsley, owners of Rebellion/2000AD, will co-produce.

"Alex Garland's script is faithful to the original concept that made Judge Dredd a favorite bad-ass hero.  It's a high-octane slay ride through the dark underbelly of the vast future city," said Wagner in a statement. The futuristic and violent series features law enforcers who are simultaneously judges, juries and executioners.

A previous version of Judge Dredd in 1995 was directed by Danny Cannon for Hollywood Pictures and starred Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante and Rob Schneider.

Reliance BIG Pictures has other deals in Hollywood including its partnership with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider on the formation of DreamWorks Studios. It also has development deals with Nicolas Cage's Saturn Films, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures, Brett Ratner's Rat Entertainment, Julia Roberts' Red Om Films and Brian Gazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment.

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