Sylvester Stallone's Biggest Rival Almost Played Judge Dredd Before Him

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are two of the biggest movie stars on the planet, especially in the realm of action blockbusters. Not only that, but the actors once had a rivalry with each other, with Schwarzenegger even tricking Stallone into starring in a major flop just to get the one-up on him. However, there was also a time when the tables could have flipped, as Arnie was lined up to play the lead in 1995's "Judge Dredd" — one of the most panned movies in Stallone's oeuvre. That said, the abandoned Schwarzenegger version of this flick actually sounds pretty good.

The script for the proposed Arnie-starring "Judge Dredd" film was penned by Peter Briggs, who is mostly known for his contributions to 2004's "Hellboy" movie. After writing an acclaimed spec script for "Alien vs. Predator" in 1991, Briggs was approached to write a "Judge Dredd" film for the late "Top Gun" and "True Romance" filmmaker Tony Scott to direct. As a lifelong fan of the "2000 A.D." comics the Judge originates from, Briggs jumped at the chance — and he had a neat idea for the movie lifted straight from the source material. Here's what he told Bloody-Disgusting about it in 2020:

"So, I wanted to do, from the outset, Judge Death. Because, well, he's awesome. And the Dark Judges are terrific [like Death, the Dark Judges are undead, interdimensional versions of the Judges from Dredd's reality]. They are the antithesis of what the Judge system stands for, being from a parallel universe in which all life is outlawed. Life is the ultimate crime, and death is the answer. From the outset, for me there was no other storyline other than that."

It all sounds too good to be true, right? Well, that's because it was. Briggs' "Judge Dredd" movie ultimately fell victim to political meddling and creative differences, forcing him to leave the project. So, what happened exactly?

When Peter Briggs joined the project, "Judge Dredd" had already seen several other writers come and go. What's more, Briggs faced competition from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" scribe William Wisher, who was hired to write a separate script, with the idea being that Arnold Schwarzenegger would pick his favorite draft and the filmmakers would take it from there. However, it seems that Briggs' story never stood a chance, as the writer claimed that one of the film's producers, Charlie Lippincott, was against making a movie involving Judge Death. As he told Bloody-Disgusting:

"He goes 'Yeah. Look, it's nothing personal, but I just wanna say that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that this script with you doesn't happen.' That was a direct quote from Charlie Lippincott. Direct quote."

According to Briggs, Tony Scott and Schwarzenegger parted ways with the project around the same time his idea was shot down, albeit for reasons the screenwriter isn't fully aware of. Sylvester Stallone and Danny Cannon boarded the film afterward, and the rest is history. Once again, Arnie got the last laugh, as "Judge Dredd" is far from the best movie in Stallone's filmography, not to mention the fact it added another commercial and creative flop to his legacy. That said, Briggs' idea being brought to life by Tony Scott with Arnold Schwarzenegger leading the cast? Who doesn't want to see that film? If nothing else, it couldn't have been worse than the movie we got instead.