By Travis Johnson
Rebellion, the company that owns the legendary British sci-fi comic 2000 AD, today announced that development has begun on a television series, Judge Dredd: Mega-City One. They’ll be teaming up with IM Global’s Mark Stern (Battlestar Galactica) to bring the future lawman to life in what seems to be shaping up as a sprawling, semi-anthology series. Check out the announcement video below:
This is great news! The iconic Dredd has made it to the screen twice before, in 1995’s Stallone-starring (and odious) Judge Dredd, and in 2012’s much better Dredd, starring Karl Urban, but neither have quite nailed the gonzo, anarchic tone of the property. A TV series featuring Dredd as but one of a large cast of characters is the ideal format to explore Mega-City One, which is hands down one of the greatest settings in the history of sci-fi.
Even better, a successful series could open the door to future 2000 AD adaptations, which is about bloody time – the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic is a massive untapped IP source, and it’s kind of amazing in these franchise-happy times that its vaults haven’t been plundered yet.
Obviously it’s early days yet, but we’ll be keeping an eagle eye on this one.
