Adi Shankar, the producer who just released the controversial Power/Rangers fan-film and had his James Bond short yanked, offers up an explanation as to why Dredd 2 isn’t getting made and also how it possibly could get underway.
Bottom line: It’s all about money.
In the above video, Shankar goes over how Independent films are financed, which has to do with domestic value, international value as well as whatever subsidies and government rebates the filming location might offer.
If the cost of the movie is over the three values, no matter what, the movie isn’t going to get made.
Obviously if the cost is lower, the movie gets made (and why Shankar says the reason why “shitty” movies get made).
Regarding Dredd, the problem was it lost a lot of money through international distributors.
Shankar then offers three options to make a Dredd 2, which includes lowering the budget, getting a big-name director onboard and adding a big star.
Regarding the first two choices, those aren’t really options because lowering the budget would make it a terrible film and no big-name director is coming onboard a sequel following another director’s movie.
So the third option seems the best, with Adki Shankar recommending someone like Dwayne Johnson starring alongside Karl Urban.