As far as directorial debuts go, Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina” ranks up there next to the best of them. The film was critically lauded and is viewed as one of the best sci-fi films of the last decade. Garland’s follow-up “Annihilation” continues his trend of thoughtful, strange sci-fi. But what if we were to tell you that “Ex Machina” wasn’t Garland’s first feature film?
Actor Karl Urban is making the rounds currently, promoting his film “Bent.” While speaking to JoBlo, the question of when he might put on the helmet and reprise the titular role in a “Dredd” sequel came up, and the actor dropped a bit of a bombshell. According to Urban, Alex Garland is the true director of the cult film.
READ MORE: ‘Annihilation’: Alex Garland Creates A Spellbinding Sci-Fi Masterpiece [Review]
“A huge part of the success of ‘Dredd’ is in fact due to Alex Garland and what a lot of people don’t realize is that Alex Garland actually directed that movie,” said Urban.
Clearly, hearing that, the interviewer posited a scenario where Garland would come back to officially direct a sequel, and how awesome that would be. Urban responded, “Right? That would rock my world. I just hope when people think of Alex Garland’s filmography that ‘Dredd’ is the first film that he made before ‘Ex Machina.’ You think about it in those terms; it goes ‘Dredd,’ ‘Ex Machina,’ ‘Annihilation.’”
Now, before people go and write this off as Urban trying to capitalize on Garland’s recent successes, keep in mind that Garland is credited as a writer and producer on “Dredd.” And by all accounts, he was heavily involved in the production. As we know, there have been quite a few times where a director has been de facto fired from a production, with someone else taking over midway. Or, in some cases, the director is a figure head with someone else calling the shots. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that something like this occurred on the “Dredd” set.
Obviously, the only people to know the truth about Urban’s claims are the ones who were on the set. However, looking back, you can see bits of Garland in “Dredd.” “Dredd” had no right being as good as it was, and the style of the film played a large part in that. If, in fact, Garland did direct “Dredd,” it’s not the worst bit of news in the world and wouldn’t diminish his recent success.
If anything, this news will hopefully get people to give “Dredd” a look because it’s a good time!