We may or may not ever see a sequel toDredd, but if it’s up to one of its starsOlivia Thirlby, it can’t happen soon enough. Written by Alex Garland and directed by Pete Travis,Dreddstarred Karl Urban in the titular role with Thirlby co-starring as his partner, Judge Anderson. Its performance at the box office didn’t pull in the profits that the movie truly deserved, seemingly squashing any hope thatDredd 2would be happening.
In subsequent years,Dreddhas grown in popularity with a rather large cult following. Many are still hoping that a sequel can finally happen now that the movie is more highly regarded in retrospect. For years, Karl Urban has teased that he’s up for doingDredd 2, or possibly a TV series continuation. In a new interview for Collider Ladies Night, his co-star Olivia Thirlby was even more adamant about making the new movie.
“First of all, let me just say, I was always the number one advocate of getting a sequel forDredd. I love that movie and I love that character. If there is still talk of there being a sequel 10 years later, I am all for it.”
InDredd’s closing scenes (warning: 9-year-oldSPOILERSahead), Judge Anderson seems to decide that this isn’t the life for her by handing her badge over to her partner. For her part, Olivia Thirlby doesn’t interpret this to mean that Anderson is doing being a judge, even if it changes her outlook on life. With that in mind, she would still hope to be very much involved in a potentialDredd 2.
“What that gesture is about at the end, she’s bowing out of her ambition. She’s bowing out of a drive that she had to be an A student, to be perfect and to be the one who’s doing it right. I think she’s learned that the world is way too messy for her to have a personal investment in being shiny and important and in control. Whatever that would yield for her in her journey as a person, maybe her journey as a judge, I couldn’t say. That would have to be in the mind of whomever was telling her story onward. But I would like to think that she would continue being a judge.”
On the topic ofDredd 2, Thirlby also takes a moment to praise screenwriter Alex Garland. Looking back upon the material she was given forDredd, Thirlby feels that Garland handled the character expertly, and that’s something that she would hope could happen again if theDreddsequel ever ends up getting the green light.
“I just also have to take a second andshout out Alex Garlandbecause the Anderson that he wrote was so thoughtful and sensitive and nuanced and empowered and powerful, not because she was trying to be Dredd or be like a man, but because she was exactly herself and that journey of her finding herself and her true strength is what I love so much about that movie and what I felt like, as an actor, it was so meaty to lean into that role. If we’re gonna talk about a sequel toDredd, we have to also whisper to the gods of the film universe that Alex Garland be part of that.”
These days,co-star Karl Urbanhas been busy portraying another big role as Billy Butcher on the hit Amazon seriesThe Boys. Meanwhile, Olivia Thirlby can be seen in the new post-apocalyptic drama seriesY: The Last Manwhich recently debuted on FX on Hulu. This news comes to us fromCollider.
