The first incarnation of Judge Dredd that hit theaters was the 1995 action film directed by Danny Cannon, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Armand Assante and Max von Sydow. The film is based on the Judge Dredd strip in the British comic 2000 AD. Certain elements of the film were altered from the comic series, but it still did not find wide mainstream appeal and as a result, the film was a critical and commercial disappointment.

Now, comic book artist Mark Simpson, who draws under the pseudonym Jock, recently Twittered about a meeting regarding the ‘Judge Dredd’ film. Andy Diggle, currently one of the higher-profile scribes at Marvel Comics, is also said to have been present though he’s being much more quiet about it.

No word yet on what Simpson or Diggle’s specific involvement in the project is, but Jock had previously drawn Judge Dredd for the sci-fi publication 2000 A.D. and He and Diggle have teamed up before on the DC/Vertigo comic book “The Losers”, which has been adapted for the big screen and is heading to theaters in April 2010.

‘Judge Dredd’ is set in an ultra-violent city in the future. The character, Joe Dredd, is part of an elite, high-tech law enforcement corps called the Street Judges, who are authorized to act as judge, jury, and executioner. The series, created by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, and Pat Mills, was previously adapted into a 1995 film starring Sylvester Stallone, which was both a critical and commercial flop.

Back in September we reported that writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) was attached to a new ‘Judge Dredd’ movie for DNA Films, and even back then “JOCK” (Mark Simpson) twittered that he was

“Working through script visuals for Judge Dredd movie. Alex Garland writes a great script.”