'Dredd' Director Alex Garland Would Be Perfect For 'Alien: Covenant' Sequel

Actor Karl Urban claimed in a recent interview that Alex Garland, director of Ex Machina and Annihilation, also directed 2012's Dredd. Urban played the titular character , the be-masked, grim-faced, authoritarian Judge Dredd. Combine the adrenal, claustrophobic Dredd with the enigmatic and alien Annihilation and you have just about the perfect formula for an Alien or Alien: Covenant sequel.

Previously credited as a screenwriter, Urban asserted that Garland handled directorial duties, rather than Dredd's credited director, Pete Travis. "A huge part of the success of Dredd is in fact due to Alex Garland and what a lot of people don't realize is that Alex Garland actually directed that movie," Urban told Jo Blo. "I just hope when people think of Alex Garland's filmography that Dredd is the first film that he made before Ex Machina. You think about it in those terms: it goes Dredd, Ex Machina, Annihilation."

With that retcon, Garland demonstrates not just a capacity for the more heady, thought-provoking aspects of on-screen science fiction, but also the action half of the Alien franchise equation, making Garland the ideal director to once again reboot the Alien franchise now that it's fallen into Disney's world-swallowing money maw.

Though Alien: Covenant failed to top Prometheus in terms of both box office returns and critical praise, director Ridley Scott proposed another sequel. Those plans were shelved when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox's film and TV studios, including the rights to franchises like The X-Men, Planet of the Apes, The X-Files and Alien. Asked about the purchase, Ridley Scott said that Disney would be "crazy not to do something with it," while also indicating he would no longer be involved, ostensibly because of Disney's preference for PG-13 movies and reluctance to "cross the line and do something a little darker."

With Garland, Disney would have the chance to accomplish what Scott didn't in either Prometheus or Alien: Covenant—a genuine sense of the alien or the mysterious. In their most basic parameters, Annihilation has practically the same plot as Prometheus, with a team of scientists investigating a mysterious, biology-altering alien environment. But Annihilation is far more successful at capturing a sense of awe, mystery and the uncanny indifference or hostility to humanity that was meant to define the Engineers.

With the news that Garland also directed Dredd, his ability to craft fast-paced, gore-soaked entertainment—in contrast with the deliberate pacing of Ex Machina and Annihilation—becomes apparent. While neither Prometheus or Alien: Covenant managed to be scary, the sequence in Annihilation with a mutated bear that screams with a woman's voice is likely to stand out as one of the most chilling scenes of 2018.

annihilation-alex-garland-bear
This scene was scarier than anything in 'Prometheus' or 'Alien: Covenant.' Paramount Pictures

It doesn't matter that Annihilation didn't really fill theater seats, the cult classic Dredd proves Garland could offer up a mix of action, horror and sci-fi Disney will need if they hope to revive the Alien franchise after decades of mishandling

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