Friday was a bad day for fans of Judge Dredd. While many are still trying to wipe away memories of the Sylvester Stallone-starring comic book adaptation from 1995, it was reported that Pete Travis, the director of the new remake, Dredd, had been removed from the editing room for the film and, what's more, writer/producer Alex Garland was considering requesting a co-director credit. At the time Garland and Travis' representatives didn't respond for comment on the story, but now the writer and director have finally chimed in.
The Los Angeles Times, the source of the original story, has received a joint statement from both Garland and Travis responding to last week's news. The statement read as follows:
During all stages of the filmmaking, Dredd has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties. From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film. This situation has been misinterpreted. To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit. We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when its [sic] released next year.
It's certainly a thought provoking statement, mostly because of the word "unorthodox." They don't seem to deny that Travis is not taking part in the film's post-production, so are we to understand that he was never going to be part of that process? If that is the case, why would the director agree to that? We constantly hear stories about filmmakers fighting for creative control and final cut of their own work, so why is Travis backing off in this situation? What benefits can come from having Travis not be a part of editing?
When the film comes out next year these will all be questions that reporters will likely ask, and hopefully there are some strong answers. This statement was obviously issued to bring back optimism - Karl Urban is a great choice for the lead and Garland, whose previous credits include 28 Days Later and Sunshine, is a gifted writer - but it's a little too short on details to serve that purpose.
