The folks at UK based Rebellion have a lot of projects they are juggling these days. The company, best known as the developer for the original Aliens vs. Predator PC game, have branched out into publishing the 2000AD comics in Britain and are developing its most famous character, Judge Dredd, into a first person action game titled Dredd vs. Death. Now Rebellion is getting into the movie business acting as a producer on not one but two upcoming Judge Dredd feature films. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with Rebellion co-founder Jason Kingsley as he talks about both the upcoming Judge Dredd games and films.

HomeLAN - It's been a little while since any news on the Judge Dredd game has appeared. How is the development of the game proceeding overall?

Jason Kingsley - Things are going very well. We think that we’ll have the game competed for Q1 or Q2 2003, and it’s looking great!

HomeLAN - For those of our readers who have not heard of Rebellion's plans for the game, why did you and the company want to create a Judge Dredd first person shooter?

Jason Kingsley - Rebellion is well known for Aliens vs. Predator and we think that by combining our skills from that with a character that we own like Judge Dredd, we’ll be able to make a fun and challenging game. It will almost certainly be a FPS on the PC, but maybe on the consoles it’ll be 3rd person, with slightly different game play elements.

HomeLAN - What is the storyline behind Dredd vs. Death?

Jason Kingsley - We don’t know just yet, but it’ll feature Judge Death very heavily. Were concentrating on the technology at this stage and will work on the art, game play and story-line in a few months time.

HomeLAN - How close will the game be to the spirit of the original comic books?

Jason Kingsley - Our ‘Asura’ engine have a series of different rendering modes, one of which is the graphic novel rendered which allows us to get that painted, comic art style feel for the game. We’re basing our look on the comics rather than any film!

HomeLAN - What sort of levels and settings will be present in Dredd vs. Death?

Jason Kingsley - Too early to tell now, but we will visit many of the famous places in the comic, the Smokatorium, Resyk, halls of Justice and anywhere else that we need to go to allow Dredd fans to travel round mega City One, and also to introduce new fans to the world of Dredd.

HomeLAN - What kinds of enemies will appear in the game?

Jason Kingsley - Death and the Dark Judges, almost certainly Mean Angel, and a whole host of other lesser perps and general bad guys.

HomeLAN - Besides Judge Dredd and Judge Death, what other characters from the Dredd comics will appear in the game?

Jason Kingsley - Anderson is a firm favourite, along with Giant, and a cast of other Judges, but don’t forget the citizens, that 400 million strong weird bunch of misfits!

HomeLAN - What sorts of weapons will players get to use in Dredd vs. Death?

Jason Kingsley - Dredd’s standard weapon will be the lawgiver firing five types of ammo, but in certain areas he may carry heavier munitions to take out robots or other bigger targets.

HomeLAN - The game's engine is supposed to be highly advanced and uses a shader that duplicates the look of the comic books. What can you tell us about the specifics of the engine features?

Jason Kingsley - Wow, if I went into the specifics it would take ages, but in brief it is a huge development above and beyond the engine we put together for AvP. In that engine, some featres still haven’t been replicated in other engines, like the lighting model for example. We were the first game ever to come out with slo-mo mode, facial animation, smooth curves volumetric explosions etc. We’ve gone further and can now handle about as many polygons as anybody would ever need to throw about, with great lighting too!

HomeLAN - Will the game have any support for mod makers?

HomeLAN - Will there be any multiplayer support in Dredd vs. Death and if so what can you tell us about those plans?

Jason Kingsley - Yes, complete multiplayer support – how about playing a team of Judges against a team of muties!

HomeLAN - What are Rebellion's current plans for releasing the game and have you found a publisher for Dredd vs. Death?

Jason Kingsley - We have several publishers interested, but as yet haven’t made a decision about who to go with.

HomeLAN - What other games based on 2000 AD characters is Rebellion currently working on?

Jason Kingsley - We’re not actually working on any full games, but we have several prototypes in development and concepts, Rogue Trooper being a particular favourite, along with Strontium Dog.

HomeLAN - Let's talk about the recently announced Judge Dredd films. Why did Rebellion wish to enter the movie business with not one but two Dredd movies?

Jason Kingsley - Making two movies of budgets at the $15 to 20 million mark back to back actually means that you can use elements form one movie, like a justice dept sector house, or costumes and props twice, and therefore it makes the films appear to be more like 25 to 30 million films. Usually with movies and sequels they throw a lot of equipment away and have to rebuild it for the next one. Making them back to back means this doesn’t happen. Also, by avoiding the big studio system, the budget will go further, and make better films.

HomeLAN - The Sylvester Stallion film received very mixed reviews when it was released. What is Rebellion and Shoreline Entertainment going to do to make
the Dredd films good movies and at the same time remain true to the comics?

Jason Kingsley - We’re going back to the original ethos of Dredd. I’m a producer on the movie, so will share the blame if its no good, but also, being a reader from issue 1, I have a deep knowledge of Dredd, and am working with the script writer now. Stallone’s version of Dredd was actually a very successful movie, but not much appreciated by the hard core fans. If you can step away from the divergence from the comic book, it’s a very good sci-fi action film, and Stallone is a good hero figure in it.

HomeLAN - When will production of the films commence?

Jason Kingsley - Production will hopefully begin in the Summer of next year in Canada or India, probably, the budgets I’ve mentioned above and may vary as we get the cast on-board.

HomeLAN - Finally, Rebellion has expanded from a computer game developer to a true multimedia organization. Did you think that your company that you and your brother co-founded would be involved in so many areas of entertainment when
you first started Rebellion?

Jason Kingsley - Sometimes when you are concentrating on the present day its good to take a breath and look over your shoulder at just how far you’ve travelled. I have to say that though this was the plan from day one, it was hard to see how it would take shape. Some of the steps along the way have been difficult too, so though the ride has been great, it hasn’t been smooth!

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