2012’s Dredd has built itself up into a modest cult hit, but unfortunately for fans, that probably won’t be enough to continue the adventures of the judge/jury/executioner on screen anytime soon.

Steve spoke with Dredd screenwriter Alex Garland at SXSW for Garland’s directorial debut, Ex Machina, and Garland explained his mix of regret and gratitude for the picture:

GARLAND: The Dredd thing is a surprise. It’s a really complicated set of emotions. I have a lot of regret about how things worked out with Dredd, but it’s very gratifying. The regret it—you do a kind of transaction, particularly with the creators of it, which is that we want to do this thing and honor what you did, and try to do it properly, and then the film will reward that trust. That act of faith and trust and decency. And I think that the film rewarded them in one sense, but no in another. I do believe it rewarded them creatively, unless they’re lying to me about that. But I think it has created this thing of this movie that fails. The story of Dredd is that of a failed movie. Both times, for fuck’s sake. And to be party to that, when that was exactly the intention—to not do that—is kind of difficult.

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Image via Lionsgate

Garland also spoke bluntly about the plans for a sequel, and told fans that voting with their wallets for Dredd 2 is just wasting money:

GARLAND: And I also feel a sense of responsibility because I know there are these people who do this stuff like they’ve got money and they spend money on a DVD to try and up the chance of a sequel getting made. Because I don’t have an online profile or persona or anything like that I can’t speak to these people directly, but what I want to say is that’s so good of you, and thank you, but keep your money because the people who make the decisions don’t get moved by that kind of thing. They’re moved by other stuff, other equations, other algorithms.

That’s not to say there will never be another Dredd film, but the sequel fans want won’t be happening anytime soon:

GARLAND: How can I say this without being soppy? It’s touching. It means something that these people support the film in that way, but the thing people want, which is a sequel, I don’t think is going to happen. I think it will happen (let me rephrase that) I don’t think it’s happening with me and the people who made the last one.

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Image via EW

Moving to movies that are actually happening, Steve asked Oscar Isaac, who stars in Ex Machina, about staying silent on huge blockbusters like X-Men: Apocalypse and Star Wars: The Force Awakens when fans constantly want new information:

OSCAR ISAAC: With the secretive stuff, it’s okay. I understand the clamor for content and filling webpages and things and blogs and whatnot, but it’s not too hard to keep it a secret of what it is because I also don’t like spoilers. I don’t understand why people would want to know so much beforehand because it robs it of the magic of the moment. But the excitement for it sure is fun.

Watch what they had to say below and look for the full interview soon.

 

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Image via A24