Why Dred failed at the box office

Why did Dredd failed at the box office essay.docx

Dredd Movie Presentation Script

Chloe:
The film was directed by Pete Travis who has directed films such as Vantage Point, Omagh and Endgame. DNA Films (who has done films such as 28 Days Later and the History Boys) produced the film with IM Global (who has done films such as Safe, Insidious and many upcoming films).  Dredd was distributed by Entertainment Film Distributers and Lionsgate. The film got the green light on 20th December 2008.

The cast includes Karl Urban (who plays Dredd) fromm Star Trek and The Bourne Supremacy,  Olivia Thirlby (Anderson) who has been in Juno and No Strings Attached and finally Lena Headley (Ma-ma) who has been in 300 and the Game of Thrones series.

The film received positive reviews from critics. The film had an average rating of 6.5 on the review website Rotten Tomato’s. IGN awarded the film eight out of ten and said, "Dredd is a character study, primarily, one fuelled by violence and action, and we can't think of a better way to re-introduce this character to cinema audiences.” The Guardian's Phelim O'Neill scored the film 4 stars out of 5 and praised Urban's performance, saying, "The essence of Dredd is that he is almost an anti-character—he doesn't change or learn—and Urban nails it in an ego-free performance".

The script for Dredd was written by Alex Garland who began writing in 2006. Garlands draft mainly revolved around one of Dredd’s main enemies called Judge Death. When developing the Judge Dredd character, Garland tried to closely follow what he was like in the comic-books, so he would only have small personality changes over a lengthy period of time.

Will:
A viral advertising site called “Dredd Report” was launched in august 2012. The site consisted of a video showing the use of Slo-Mo and links to news about the film. A tie-in comic book was published on the 5th of September and it is a prequel to the film's narrative and follows Ma-Ma's life as a prostitute. Posters for the film were released shortly after. Reports say that Lionsgate contributed $25 million to advertising and print costs.

Dredd won an Empire Award for best 3D and was nominated for best British film and best science fiction/fantasy film. They also won a Golden Trailer Award for Best Thriller TV Spot for the trailer.

The problem was that the 3D and 2D showings at cinema's were that there wasnt enough showings of them in the UK, so therefore people couldnt find places to watch the film at certain times or even find any showings of the film, as there was report in a review of the film that in some cinemas the film was only showed once so often. I think that Dredd did not have good success because they narrowed down the target audience too much and the sci-fi feel to it would not appeal to a lot of people. I also think that people may have thought that it was too simple and straight forward because the plot was easy to predict.

Jack:
The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MX and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras. Some 2D elements were converted to 3D in post-production. Mega-City One’s high rise towers were created in Cape Town Film Studios.

Paul Leonard-Morgan used electronic music and 80’-style synthesisers and modern sounds to create various combinations of music. He said, "I was looking to create a timeless score which couldn't be placed in any particular era. So it's ended up being a cross between a modern dance track and evocative soundscapes." For scenes showing the effect of the Slo-Mo narcotic, he composed new music with real instruments and then slowed the songs down by thousands of percent. The film also includes songs from artists such as Vitalic, Matt Berry and Bobby Womack.

Chloe: I throughly enjoyed watching the whole film of Dredd. It was full of action and excitement with a very grown up yet thrilling persecutive to the cartoon comic judge Dredd. The film had a very gripping and understandable storyline that grow on me as it went through the film, but at the start i wasn't too sure how it would end or how it would all come together as it took a while for it to really get into the story line and become full of action. The only fault was that it ended too quickly and quietly, needed more fight and excitement at the ending of killing 'mama' she died to easily and quickly, despite that all in all was a thrilling and brilliant film to watch full of action and excitement despite its low budget and high loss, i enjoyed the film and will be watching it again.

Will: Although the film and its helmeted main character are straightforward and simple, it actually works better because it is easier to understand and is more realistic. The day-in-the-life style plotis a good way to introduce Judge Dredd and Mega City One and the film mostly avoids doing anything really annoying or irrelivant. I also liked the fact that Judge Dredd is not given a back story and is instead portrayed as the mysterious man with no name and that he never removes his helmet (just like the comics. I also appreciated that this version of Dredd is more hardcore and extremely violent whereas the 1995 version of Dredd was very feeble and comic.

Jack: Sci-Fi movies are not usually in my favor, meaning I don’t really like them. But action films; action films are my biggest interest when it comes to relaxing and watching a good movie. Dredd is a sci-fi and action genre film which means I could love it or hate it. As it happens I loved Dredd, the idea of the slow-mo drug in the film really gives the chance for the producer and directors to show slow, detailed scenes which you don’t get to see in some other films. These scenes are the parts such as gun shots and the detail when it hits the bad guys and you see everything that happens like the skin exploding and blood flying around. This brought a realistic feeling to the film not like in most films where it generally looks like fake killing and blood.

Dredd 2012 Research

Dredd 2012 is about when future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One - a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture - a 200 storey vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan's inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound's ...

The film Dredd was directed by Pete Travis who also directed films Vantage Point (2008), Omagh (2004) and Endgame (2009). The main characters that played parts in Dredd were Karl Urban who played Dredd and has also played in films Star Trek (2009), Star Trek into darkness (2013) and The Bourne Supermacy (2004). Olivia  Thirlby who played Dredds side kick and has started in films Juno (2007), No strings attached (2011) and The darkest house (2011). Also Lena Headey plays Mama the bad buy in Dredd but has also stared in films 300 (2006), The Purge (2013) and Game of Thrones (2011).

The estimated budget of Dredd was $35,000,000 and made a gross of $13,401,683 on October 26th 2012. The critical reception of Dredd got a megascore of 59/100 and had a rating of 7.0/100 which was rated by 125,460 people. Normally in a case like this having such a high rating and score you would think that the costings would double and make a strong profit but in this case it got a could reception but made a money loss which is very rare. 

The marketing of the film begin in  August 2012 when the viral advertising site "Dredd Report" was launched. The site featured a video condemning the use of Slo-Mo, and links to news about the film. A tie-in comic book was published; its plot serves as a prequel to the film's narrative and follows Ma-Ma's life as a prostitute, controlled by her pimp Lester Grimes. The comic was written by Judge Dredd Megazine editor Matt Smith, drawn by 2000 AD artist Henry Flint and was released on 5 September 2012. An exclusive film poster featuring artwork by Jock was released by Mondo to promote the film's appearance at the 2012 Fantastic Fest in September 2012. 

Dredd's marketing campaign won a Golden Trailer Award for Best Thriller TV Spot for the trailer "Big Addicted", and received nominations for a number of things such as Best Action TV Spot, Most Original TV Spot, Best Graphics in a TV Spot, Best Music TV Spot, and Best Action Poster and Most Original Poster for the Dredd motion poster.

Alex Garland wrote the script of Dredd and began writing Dredd in 2006 during post-production of Sunshine and completed his first draft during filming of 28 Weeks Later. Garland decided that the story needed to be more focused and grounded. He instead considered adapting some of the notable Judge Dredd storylines, including "Democracy" (1986) and "Origins" (2006), but he decided to avoid these lengthy tales in favour of a shorter, day-in-the-life story about Dredd and his function as a cop in the dystopian environment of Mega-City One.

Dredd was distrubuted by Entertainment Film, Distributors and Lionsgate and the studios that accupanied making the film were DNA Films, IM Global and Reliance Entertainment.
The green light was given to the producers Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich on Decemer 20th 2008 that Rebellion and 2000 AD have announced that a new Judge Dredd movie is in development. Together with DNA Films, the movie production company behind such films as Danny Boyle's Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later, Judge Dredd will go into production in 2009. Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director said, "We can't give away too many details at this point, but we're looking forward to working with DNA Films to bring Judge Dredd back to the big screen."
Dredd the film made a loss and therefore didnt not succeed in the film buiness. This was for many reasons such as the marketing. Lionsgate was only on the hook for the cost of prints and marketing for Dredd, so they may not have had the financial incentive to push the film hard enough. And what marketing I saw didn't really convey the "Batman-analogue in a dark future city" concept clearly enough. The R rating. The over-the-top violence in Dredd was one of the best parts of the film, but the comic has always seemed to be aimed at the smart 13-year-old. You could easily imagine a PG-13 Judge Dredd movie that would convey the violence and lunacy without quite so much overt gore — and that would have made more money as a result. Also another problem was that the 3D and 2D showings at cinema's were that there wasnt enough showings of them in the UK, so therefore people couldnt find places to watch the film at certain times or even find any showings of the film, as there was report in a review of the film that in some cinemas the film was only showed once so often.

The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MIX, SI2K and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras. Multiple camera rigs were used. Some 2D elements were converted to 3D in post production. For scenes conveying the time and space altering effects of Slo-Mo, Mantle aimed to create images that would be beautiful but disorienting. Dredd also required ten days of filming and eight different sets inside and outside the studio which were blended together with visual effects. Slo-Mo scenes also feature a rainbow color scheme and sparkle highlights to create an unreal and otherworldly effect. The filmmakers experimented with blood bags, prosthetics, shooting real bullets, and compressed air to see the effect of direct body hits in slow motion. In the finished film, compressed air was used to create impact ripples on flesh.

I throughly enjoyed watching the whole film of Dredd. It was full of action and excitement with a very grown up yet thrilling persecutive to the cartoon comic judge Dredd. The film had a very gripping and understandable storyline that grow on me as it went through the film, but at the start i wasn't too sure how it would end or how it would all come together as it took a while for it to really get into the story line and become full of action. The only fault was that it ended too quickly and quietly, needed more fight and excitement at the ending of killing 'mama' she died to easily and quickly, despite that all in all was a thrilling and brilliant film to watch full of action and excitement despite its low budget and high loss, i enjoyed the film and will be watching it again.