New Zealand-born actor Karl Urban, who played Leonard “Bones” McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, will portray Judge Dredd in a new movie based on the 2000 A.D. franchise that is set to begin filming soon in South Africa.  Peter Travis is directing the new film and he will be working with some of the same people who created the cult hit film District Nine. 

Producer Andrew Macdonald told Empire Online that Judge Dredd creator John Wagner “is involved in every decision” for the new Dredd film that is due in theaters in 2011.  Macdonald went on to explain: “The main thing about Dredd is that it’s a fantastic comic that was completely messed up 20 years ago.  Our idea is to make a very hard, R-rated, gritty, realistic movie of Dredd in Megacity, so we’ve got to get the tone right.”

Macdonald also promised that Dredd’s motorcycle was going feel real, and most importantly of all, just like in the comics—“He’s not going to take off his helmet.”