Are you ready, rookies? Fans of 2012’s Dredd, a would-be series starter adapted from the iconic British comic anthology series 2000 AD, are lighting up social media today by declaring October 1st, 2014 to be the second annual “Day of Dredd,” an event devoted to campaigning for a live-action sequel to the Pete Travis-directed flick.
Though Dredd wasn’t a big hit in theaters, it has found an extraordinary second life on home video. Since the film’s release, the so-called Dreddheads have been loudly and consistently candid about their desire to see a Dredd 2, regularly pushing for fans to purchase the movie on DVD and/or Blu-Ray, watch it on a streaming service like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Google Play, use the hashtag #DayofDredd on Twitter and Facebook, and sign an official petition.
More than 125,000 people have signed the petition to date, and so much attention has been brought to the fan battle for a Dredd 2 that Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby, stars of the first film, both released video responses expressing their gratitude and shared desire for more Dredd (Thirlby’s, released today, is above, and you can check out Urban’s below).
So far, the campaign has succeeded in sending Dredd to the top of the U.K. Blu-Ray charts and getting #DayofDredd trending on Twitter in some areas. Whether it will see more serious action to help Dredd 2 along (including, as Urban has urged, a Kickstarter campaign) remains to be seen. But what the Day of Dredd has shown Lionsgate execs and producers is that Dredd‘s fans are enthusiastic and many. In a cinematic landscape where launching solidly performing franchises is an undeniably tricky business, that may just be enough for Dredd 2 to see the light of day.
Tell us, are you participating in the Day of Dredd? Does this movie deserve a sequel, or are you still not sure what all the fuss is about? Sound off below, and check out the campaign’s Facebook page right here.
