Dredd - Fact File

Pre-Production

Who were the films producer, distributor and and script writer?
The film was produced by Alex Garland, Andrew MacDonald and Allon Reich of DNA films and was distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors and Lionsgate. It's script was written by Alex Garland.

Who are Lionsgate?
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (or Lionsgate) is a Canadian-American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 3, 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. As of November 2013, it is the most commercially successful mini major film and television distribution company in North America and the seventh most profitable movie studio. 

Who are IM Global?
Stuart Ford founded IM GLOBAL in 2007. The company is one of the leading film financing, sales and distribution companies in the world, championing a wide variety of cinema, including mainstream commercial, art house, foreign language and genre fare. IM Global's core business is international film sales and licensing. In 2013, IM Global’s international sales division ranked #1 in international box office market share amongst independent film companies. Since it’s inception, IM Global has accumulated a diverse and valuable worldwide library of over 160 titles and the company’s films have collectively grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

Who are DNA films?
DNA Films is a British film production company founded by Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew Macdonald. It is very closely linked to Fox Searchlight, and receives a lot of its funding from it. They have also worked with Lionsgate on several pictures.

How was funding for DNA originally split?
The company originally had $50 million, half of it coming from Fox, the remainder coming from DNA themselves, via the Arts council of England.

Why did they need to maintain there relationship with Fox?
Because they had a guaranteed release commitment with them, and they have a lot of resources to help the studio attain success. They are also a boig supplier for Fox and have enjoyed a mutually beneficial agreement for a long time.

When did Lionsgate announce their three picture deal with IM global?
The three films (Dredd, Expendables sequel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) were announced during November 2012.

Where did Carl Urban announce his role as 'Dredd'?
He announced it at Comic-Con in July 2010, to Collider.com.

Why might this attract the target audience?
Since Comic-Con is a comic book based convention, and the film is based off a popular comic book series, this was a good way to announce the role to a large amount of people who will likely be interested in the film.

How much money did Dredd make from pre-sales?
IM global has sold the rights to the film around the world, making around $30 million, it had a $45 million budget.

How much did a distributer pay for the rights to show the film in the UK?
They sold the UK rights to Blighty Distrib Entertainment, at the price of $7 million.

Where was Dredd filmed?
The majority of the film is filmed in South Africa, in cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, then the use of CGI to make the cites look like a dystopian mega-city.


Production
When was the 'lawmaker' gun built and designed?
It was first designed as a physical prop in 1995 for the original film, however the 2012 movie had different props designed for it, including a working 'airsoft' model of a block, with a aesthetic shell and LCD screen over it and several rubber or plastic models.

During which other UK film was the 'slo mo' sequences designed?
The slo mo sequences were made during the production of another of Alex Garland's films, 'Never Let Me Go.

How did the film makers feel about making an 18 rated film?
Alex Garland says that he didn't really think about the certification of the film, he just made it and the content happened to be 18 rated, as it fitted the context of the fiction. However he comments on the fact that the films lack of studios restrictions allowed them to be more open with their content.

How long did it take to film Dredd?
Filming started in November 2010 and took about 13 weeks, 3D cameras and high sped (slow mo) cameras were used throughout.

Which Camera(s) were used to film Dredd?
RED MX cameras and SI2Ks, Phantom Flex highspeed, and multiple rigs shooting at the same time on first and second unit.

Why did they need to create new camera rigs?
To get the cameras 'closer to the action'.

Post-Production
What issue affected the films editing?
They found that replicating the comic visuals of blocks close together made the blocks appear small. Instead they allowed more space between the buildings to emphasise the larger buildings and allow for the presence of roads and cars to allow for extrapolation outside of the picture. Outcrops and appendages were added to break up the buildings's straight lines.

Distribution and Marketing

How many cinemas Dredd released in and how many only showed it in 3D?
Dredd opened at 2506 locations, of which approximately 2200 are 3D.

How did producers begin marketing Dredd3D?
They advertised it at Comic-Con, a large comic book convention, aiming to hit a large proportion of its target audience of males under 25. 

What viral marketing campaign did producers use for Dredd?
Lionsgate partnered with publisher 2000AD and Motion Comic to create an online comic
strip prequel to “Dredd.” They also launched a website called "Dredd Report" parodying the news aggregation website "Drudge Report", the website featured articles condemning the use of slo-mo, and links to news about the film.

The film premiered at Fantastic Fest, what is it and why would this appeal to the films target audience?
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival, specialising in: horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action, asian and cult. The festival goers would therefore have a vested interest in at least one of these genres, a few of which Dredd falls into.

What awards did the film's marketing campaign win?
It won the "Golden Trailer Award" for best thriller TV spot for the trailer "Big Addicted". The campaign was also nominated for 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.

How much money did the film gross at Box Office?
It earned $6,278,491 in it's opening weekend and $13,401,683 overall, it is estimated to have had a $50,000,000 budget, so it was a pretty huge failure.

What unusual step did the film's UK distributors take to ensure people watched in 3D?
Lionsgate refused many cinemas requests for 2D versions of the film, meaning that at many cinemas the film was only available in 3D.

What percentage of audiences are physically incapable of seeing a 3D image?
It is estimated to be between 12 and 30%.

What percentage of light is lost in a 3D film?
30% of light is lost from the film, due to blurred edges surrounding moving objects, and high proportion of seemingly 2D scenes within 3D movies are often cited as drawbacks of electing to watch movies in the format.

Which film was Dredd unfortunate to be released after?
Dredd opened in the wake of Gareth Evans's The Raid, with which it shares a (coincidentally) similar plot – lawmen fighting their way through a tower block of terror.

In the UK which position in the DVD charts did Dredd occupy?
It was the number 1 Blu-Ray and DVD during it's opening week on DVD.

What might this show about the decision to allow only a 3D release?
The fact that it was such as success as a home media, shows that viewers weren't really interested in viewing it in 3D, so if it had good coverage in 2D at the Box Office, it may well have done a lot better.

In the US which audience demographic was the largest?
The largest portion of the audience was over 25's (69%) and male (75%).

How many units did Dredd sell on DVD/Blu-Ray in the US?
Approximately 650,000.

How much money did this bring in?
Approximately $10,000,000.