Molly Simpson

Media Studies

12A3

Why Did Dredd Fail At The Box Office? (Improved)

People wondered why the British/South African film Dredd failed at box office. People considered that it failed because of its low budget and it not being British enough. Looking into it in more detail, there are many explanations to why Dredd failed. Dredd (2012) was a film created on the comic book superhero Judge Dredd (1977) invented by the UK. He was designed to defend his city from the bad and evil. The US created a film adaptation of the character in 1995. It wasnt very popular and didnt do very well because the UK created the character, therefore the superhero and novel was unknown in the states. This meant whoever created the adaptation lost out on a lot of money because the film was brought out in the wrong country at the wrong time. In recent years, superhero films are popular everywhere and the majority use CGI. ComputerGenerated Imagery is a modern IT programme and is now used effectively to create films to a professional state and to add special effects such as instead of hiring extras for a crowd scene, they can just construct fake people into it, for example like the crowd of zombies from World War Z. This is effective because it saves money on having to hire people. Dredd used this lot to cut costs off their low budget. Dredd was created to compete with US superhero films. However it failed due to its bad reputation. This happened because of a variety of things. Unlike Dredd, the majority of other superhero films were successful. This is because they required and considered all of the things Dredd did not have. Comparing Dredd and Spiderman together will show how unsuccessful Dredd was. Judge Dredd came from an English magazine company (IPC Media), which is not a very well-known company, making it difficult for the character to become noticed. Because this character is English, it already creates a problem as the UK isnt as big as the US; they have a smaller population than the US so have huge competition. Spiderman came from a popular magazine in America (Marvel Comics) created into a cross media convergence. Spiderman was more likely to do better than Dredd because America has a bigger population than England itself and the character came from a trustworthy source. Judge Dredd is played by Karl Urban (New Zealand actor). This actor doesnt really benefit the film because hes not very popular, therefore most people wouldnt be that bothered about going to see him. This meant the film was already missing one thing; an a-list star. Spiderman is played by Andrew Garfield (American/English actor). Garfield has not been involved in many films, however, he sustained the role throughout all of the Spidermans and he has been in another successful film called The Social Network. Having a known star in a film allows the target audience to become more interested in going to see it, and Dredd missed out on this. Because the character was popular to all ages also meant it was going to do well, unlike Dredd. Dredds budget was $45 million, and Spidermans was $230 million. Dredd had a low budget because they were not willing to spend money which could be one of the reasons it didnt do very well. Spidermans budget was huge therefore it was more likely to do better. The director of Spiderman was Marc Webb, an American film director. Although hes not directed many films, he has directed successful ones such as Spiderman and 500 Days of summer. Dredds director was Pete Travis, an English film director. This director does not really have much experience with film directing, which is perhaps why the film didnt do very well.

Molly Simpson

Media Studies

12A3

Dredd was a certificate 18 and Spiderman was a PG13. This was negative for Dredd because it reduces the amount people who could go and see it and this was risking the revenue it could have potentially made if they had hit more of the four quadrants. By it being a teenage-like film meant that it did not appeal to an older audience as they might have not understood it or younger people as they could not see it. This meant it would just hit men under 25 and perhaps women under 25. Because its a superhero film, it should be suitable for most ages. Spidermans certificate was average. However, it applied to a younger audience than Dredd. This doesnt necessarily mean a lower certificate means more viewers, many high certificates have done well such as a similar film The Raid. Dredd used a couple of techniques to create the film they wanted. They used Red X Camera and 3D technology. A Red X Camera is professional motion and still picture camera, used to create a mood or a special effect in a film. An example of where Red X Camera was used is slow motion scenes. The creators of Dredd used this to create an effect of hallucination and disorientation in significant scenes such as when villains are taking drugs they shouldnt be. Dredd also created a 3D version of their film. They spent the majority of their money making the 3D version look incredible and exciting. However, due to this, they failed to get a positive response. A critic from the New York Daily News said Dredd is a lot of murk and grunt with no inner engine. And the unnecessary 3-D only makes it look muddier. Unfortunately, the 3D version shouldnt have been created as it made them loose out on a lot of money which is perhaps why the film wasnt as successful as it couldve been. Spiderman used 3D too; however the film was a lot more successful as it appealed to a wider age group and Spiderman is a well-known superhero around the world. Dredd was mainly filmed in South Africa. This is because it is cheap to film there therefore they took the opportunity. They also chose to film there because they were not willing to spend much money, and most of it went into the 3D making. Spiderman filmed mainly in America. This is because they could afford to so they took the opportunity. Also, filming here could potentially make the film look better in a realistic atmosphere, and it did. Dredd was not advertised effectively. It was only advertised on buses and trailers; there were no other eye-catching advertisements. For a low budget, the films popularity was already reduced from the beginning because nobody knew about it. The advertising would have been also affected by the 18 certificate. They were unable to post explicit and violent images of the film on posters as it can be offensive to society, and the film is based upon violence. The sci-fi magazine SFX spoke about the films marketing and quote To anyone outside that audience? The studio put Dredd on the side of a couple of buses, and put together trailers I liked but which I accept were a bit generic. Aside from that? Nothing. Spiderman, on the other hand, hit marketing through the roof. Due to it being such a successful comic anyway, it was expected to do well. The marketing was viewed on posters, trailers, buses, adverts etc. Overall, Dredd was not a success. The film lacked creativity and tried too hard to be like a blockbuster. Although small budget films could potentially be a great success (such as The Raid) companies should avoid trying to copy blockbusters as they look stolen, unimaginative and embarrassing. The film had some potential things in it, such as the effective slow motion scenes. However, they were irrelevant to the main character or the plot. The producers and directors failed to stay focused on the main character and went completely off subject. Dredd failed to appeal to a wider age range audience and this could be one of the main reasons why it failed. All superhero films appeal to a younger age range as families can go and watch it and Dredd didnt. The film failed because they failed to attract an audience with their unsuccessful violence and marketing, and chose to create a film on a mainly unknown comical character where nobody in this generation knows.