Mr Smith: Why Dredd failed at the Box Office.

Dredd (2012)
 
In this essay i will be explaining why the latest film about dredd failed at the box office.
Dredd failed in the box office for many reasons:

• They made it into 3D. People were put off by paying more at the cinema for 3D.
• The original film dredd, was awful, didn't stick to the comic took mask off .
• The comic was released in U.K not U.S
• Although the new Dredd didn't take off his helmet, American audiences didn't like that they never seen his face.
• The success of avengers set the standards high for other superhero films.
• Dredd was an R-rated film. Only appealed to one out of the four quadrants.

Dredd was made into a 3D film which was a huge mistake. Firstly 3D effects cost A LOT. Most of the budget for Dredd was spent on 3D alone, which when the movie itself could have been improved was a mistake In my opinion instead of Dredd spending most of their budget on 3D they should have invested it into getting an American a list star to play the role of Anderson, for obvious reasons it would have been pointless getting an a list star to play Dredd as he never take his helmet off. Secondly the cost of a 3D ticket is a lot more than a normal ticket, which put a lot of people off the film.In the U.k 2D tickets were available to purchase.

In the original film Dredd, starring Silvester Stallone, didn't stay true to the comic books. In the comic books Judge Dredd did not take off his helmet under any circumstances, but in the original he did.The original was focusing more on the actor not the character itself. The comic was released in the U.K and only the U.K only, so why the original dredd was made into a U.S movie was a ridiculous idea because the U.S did not know who Judge Dredd was. However the new dredd did stay true to the comic in regards to keeping the helmet on at all times, which the American audience didn't like. In my opinion Dredd should have been an English film with elements of American in it, e.g. A recognized American actor. Although the reputation of the name Dredd has been tainted with the original, this could have made people reconsider about Dredd.

Another reason why Dredd failed at the box office was because it was released close to the avengers, this made people choose between the two, and with the ticket prices being higher for Dredd because of 3D more people went to see The Avengers which was a huge hit. In comparison to the avengers, everything was trailing behind. The budget for avengers was bigger, they had more A-list stars and it wasn't just one superhero it had 6! So the avengers has set the bar pretty high for superhero films.

Finally in my opinion was the biggest reason for the failure of dredd at the box office was because they made it into an R-rated movie (U.K equivalent is an 18). This was a huge mistake because they are only focusing on one of the four quadrants. This film stereotypically is for males, so they have already lost the views of women, and the film is not suitable for young teenagers, 13 year old, as it is an R-rated film. Although this might appeal to them, they would not be allowed in the cinema to watch it due to the violence in it. In my opinion the way that they could have drawn in more of an audience is to tone down the violence so that its a 15 rating, then add elements of romance in the film to attract females to watch the film. The film did still appeal to the nerdy audience however they could have been put off by the original film. The film reviews could have also been a factor in dredd failing at the box office, as the standards were set high from the avengers.