Lena Headey Cast As ‘Dredd’ Villain?

Lena Headey has apparently had her fill of staving off the inevitable apocalypse onscreen. Now the Sarah Connor Chronicles star is apparently going to tear up the streets (or rather, a single block) of Mega-City One in the reboot/new adaptation of the British sci-fi comic book series Judge Dredd – tagged with the shortened title, Dredd.

Headey reportedly began work on the Judge Dredd reboot last week and is playing the character Madeline Madrigal, a.k.a. Ma-Ma, a vicious gang leader who (violently, of course) butts heads with the titular futuristic lawman.

Judge Dredd Movie News has the scoop on Headey, who’s also widely known for playing Queen Gorgo in 300. Bleeding Cool says that the Dredd script by Alex Garland (28 Days Later) describes Headey’s character, Miss Madrigal, as “a woman in her late fifties or early sixties with a big scar through her cheek and lip.” Obviously Headey is putting on a healthy dose of makeup to portray the elder villainess, who sounds like a more intimidating arch-rival than Rico (Armand Assante) from the Sylvester Stallone-starring Judge Dredd movie released back in 1995.

For those not familiar with the source material, here’s the official synopsis for Dredd:

‘Dredd’ takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth [in the late 21st century]. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary.

Karl Urban as Judge Dredd.

Urban’s version of the deadly Judge is expected to be more similar to the ruthless, take-no-prisoners warrior that appeared in the comic series, rather than Stallone’s take on the character, who unsurprisingly came off as more of a stereotypical ’80s action hero (complete with his own trademark one-liner, “I knew you’d say that,”) instead of a complex, hard-edged cop. Likewise, Dredd is being promoted as a futuristic neo-Noir that retains more of the dark, gritty atmosphere of its source material.

Production on the $45 million, 3D feature has been ongoing for several weeks now in Cape Town, South Africa, but Dredd is not expected to reach theaters until the first half of 2012. In the meantime, feel free to share your feelings about Headey joining the film’s cast.

Source: Judge Dredd Movie News (via Bleeding Cool)

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