As much as critics like to give directors credit for every creative decision that happens on set, we also love an excellent director controversy, too. There are plenty of directors who may or may not have performed uncredited work on a film – think Howard Hawks on “The Thing From Another World,” Kurt Russell on “Tombstone,” or Paul Thomas Anderson on “Prairie Home Companion” – and the confusion surrounding these directing credits become part of the legend. As a writer, trying to unpack that impact is half the fun.
READ MORE: Karl Urban Says Alex Garland Directed ‘Dredd’
So when Karl Urban told JoBlo in 2018 that Alex Garland not-so-secretly directed most of “Dredd“? That added another element of intrigue to both the film and the filmmaker. Unlike the other films, however, it also added a bit of sequel intrigue. Fans have been petitioning Hollywood for a “Dredd” sequel pretty much since the original came out, and the fact that its original writer was also its maybe-director only served to encourage them more. Garland is one of the most popular science-fiction filmmakers in the industry. If he wanted a “Dredd” sequel to happen, it’d probably happen.
READ MORE: Karl Urban Says He’d Be Down for a ‘Dredd’ Series on Netflix or Amazon
It sounds like that’s the last thing on Garland’s mind. In a recent interview at New York Comic Con, Garland told ScreenGreek that he has no interest in returning for a sequel to his kinda-sorta directorial debut:
No. It was a pretty crude experience, for a bunch of reasons. At the end of it, I didn’t want to go back. I love ‘Dredd,’ by which I mean I love the character, but I’m not in any hurry to do that again.
Ouch. While I’d love to hear Garland expand someday on that “bunch of reasons” line, it sounds like the writer-director is quite content never returning to the movies that he helped make. It makes sense; FX just released its first teasers for ‘Devs,’ it’s new futuristic miniseries helmed by Garland, so it’s not as if he is exactly hurting for work. If a “Dredd” sequel is to happen while Urban’s chin is still young enough to pull off the look, it will have to occur without Garland.
