ROTTEN TOMATOES: Neill Blomkamp talks District 9

Neill Blomkamp talks District 9 - RT Interview

The director on sequels and the Halo movie that never was.

by Matt Mueller | September 03, 2009

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District 9 heralds the arrival of 29-year-old South African-born director Neill Blomkamp as a major new voice in science-fiction. Infused with gritty, hand-held authenticity, blistering intelligence and dazzling action sequences, Blomkamp's alien-apartheid thriller recently snatched the No. 1 spot at the US box office, an impressive achievement for a film set in Johannesburg and populated with South African accents. Raised in South Africa until his family moved to Vancouver when he was 17, Blomkamp was a talented effects whiz with some visually stunning short films and ads under his belt when Peter Jackson handpicked him to oversee the screen version of Halo. When the $145m videogame adaptation went down in studio flames, Jackson stuck by Blomkamp's side and shepherded District 9, an expansion of his 2005 short Alive in Jo'burg, to the big screen. RT sits down to chat with a filmmaker whose career is about to go stratospheric...

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District 9's success should allow for a follow-up. Is that what you're hoping for?

Neill Blomkamp: Totally. I haven't thought of a story yet but if people want to see another one, I'd love to do it.

Would you go for a sequel or prequel?

NB: Both would be interesting.

You left things deliberately open-ended...

NB: Hollywood likes to simplify real life and it likes to tie everything up neatly at the end which isn't how life plays out. The cool thing is that it's unresolved with Wickus at the end and to a certain extent it's unresolved with all the aliens.

District 9

What's the back story you had in your mind for how the aliens arrived on Earth?

NB: The thing that really appealed to me was this idea that they're a hive. They are worker drones so they don't have the direction that they need. I don't think anything's wrong with their planet. They've got their planet and they have all of these ships, like the one that you see, that leave their planet and go and get resources from other planets. Each ship has some kind of alien that we've never seen, like an elite queen or whatever, that they take direction from, and there's some virus or bacteria that they picked up on another planet that affected the upper echelons of their society and left all of them. The ship auto-piloted them to the closest planet that would sustain life.

Do you know what you are doing next?

NB: Yeah, I think so. I've got another science fiction film I want to write, which will probably be my next film. I think I'll stay in Vancouver, like I have always been, for this next one. I feel really good, I feel very creatively energised.

How far have you got with that story?

NB: I have a very loose treatment that needs to be refined so it's extremely early.

Will you continue working with Peter Jackson?

NB: Not on this next one but I'd love to work with him again. I've had a great experience working with him. What I'm hoping for is that District 9 is received well because that means that people will be open to a sequel. I'd love to team up with Peter again. And Fran. They're awesome people; in the world of sharks that Hollywood is, they're rare people.

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(1-20 of 51 posts) | Reply

Costigan writes:
on Sep 03 2009 08:12 AM

District 9 was a the suprise movie of the summer. It did a great job of constructing a whole new reality for the viewer held together with a good story. Usually I am totally against a sequels, but for this movie I think it would be a great idea.

(Reply to this)

Helge B. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 08:17 AM

Metal Gear, Mr. Blomkamp, METAL GEAR...

(Reply to this)

bamb0o-stick writes:
on Sep 03 2009 09:41 AM

I'm glad to hear that he's working on something else. Its good to see movies try to be more unusual and different. Movies don't have to be based on comic-books, graphic novels, TV shows, video games or novels. I'm starting to really respect this director for his view on the movie industry.

(Reply to this)

Sean M. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 10:07 AM

I havent seen this flick just yet im really exciting about it. I love the the direction he took with this alien film and having someone as experienced and talented as Jackson involved its a recipe for a great flick. I also think Metal gear would be great but does anybody know why Halo went down the drain???

(Reply to this)

August M. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 10:07 AM

In reply to this comment (#2542691)
Movies don't have to be based on comic-books, graphic novels, TV shows, video games or novels.

Many of the best and successful movies ever made are based on novels(Godfather, Jaws, Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, etc.) and comics(The Dark knight, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc.).

Why did you have to repeat comics twice with graphic novels? It's the same thing, they both have pictures with captions only one tends to have more pages than the other.

(Reply to this)

Sharon F. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 10:07 AM

Oooh, please let him make a sequel. I'm dying to see the conclusion to this story.

(Reply to this)

dj Mark writes:
on Sep 03 2009 10:08 AM

Blomkamp has proven that $30 million in the right hands can produce an excellent film. Unless you are Cameron or Spielberg, a bigger budget usually means more studio interference and he is obviously savvy about that.

It's also nice to learn that Jackson and Walsh are as down-to-earth as they seem.

(Reply to this)

Judo A. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 10:54 AM

NO ONE is allowed to make a Metal Gear movie.

It's already been done, and its 4 games long. And delicious.

(Reply to this)

leaf71 writes:
on Sep 03 2009 11:04 AM

I really hope that he doesn't make a sequel. At least for a long while. The Matrix was a great movie until the sequels were made. I'm afraid the same would happen with D9. I'd like to see what else Neill has up his sleeve. I think there's a lot of potential up there outside of District 10 or 8.

(Reply to this)

christian c. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 11:09 AM

Neil if you dont do HALO i am going to do halo.

(Reply to this)

Gordon Franklin Terry Sr writes:
on Sep 03 2009 11:20 AM

make it;
make it cheap;
and make it well;

and avoid the "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Syndrome:"

Blair Witch Project
Budget $500,000
Gross revenue $248,639,099

sequel:
Budget $15m
Gross revenue $47,737,094

"Will Sucess Spoil Rock Hunter?" yes.

"Am I my Brother's Keeper?" Yes (you must look after one another)

Money dosen't necessarily make a better movie . . . it seems just the opposite happens: the more money, the less creative the film tends to be.

CONVERSELY:
MAD MAX
Budget
$350,000 (estimated)

Gross
$8,750,000 (USA)
$100,000,000 (Worldwide) ( December 1982)

MAD MAX 2
(THE ROAD WARRIOR)
Budget
AUD 4,000,000 (estimated)
$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend
$2,527,864 (USA) (23 May 1982) (704 Screens)
AUD 847,220 (Australia) (31 December 1981) (21 Screens)

Gross

$23,667,907 (USA) (17 October 1982)
$23,226,636 (USA) (3 October 1982)
$22,370,061 (USA) (19 September 1982)
$21,840,875 (USA) (12 September 1982)
$21,052,119 (USA) (6 September 1982)
$19,134,368 (USA) (29 August 1982)
$16,187,629 (USA) (22 August 1982)
$13,318,807 (USA) (15 August 1982)
$12,566,262 (USA) (8 August 1982)
$11,879,604 (USA) (1 August 1982)
$11,236,735 (USA) (25 July 1982)
$11,024,479 (USA) (18 July 1982)
$10,829,042 (USA) (11 July 1982)
$10,533,103 (USA) (5 July 1982)
$10,043,673 (USA) (27 June 1982)
$9,480,853 (USA) (20 June 1982)
$8,618,887 (USA) (13 June 1982)
$7,499,801 (USA) (6 June 1982)
$5,910,160 (USA) (31 May 1982)
$2,527,864 (USA) (23 May 1982)
$23,667,907 (USA)
�2,500,000 (UK)
$10,813,000 (Australia)
$6,723,488 (Germany)
HKD 2,558,667 (Hong Kong) ( 1982)
SEK 6,993,205 (Sweden)

Weekend Gross
$308,889 (USA) (17 October 1982) (288 Screens)
$334,037 (USA) (3 October 1982) (323 Screens)
$293,374 (USA) (19 September 1982) (229 Screens)
$536,383 (USA) (12 September 1982) (356 Screens)
$1,131,891 (USA) (6 September 1982) (430 Screens)
$1,562,747 (USA) (29 August 1982) (552 Screens)
$2,589,209 (USA) (22 August 1982) (674 Screens)
$472,406 (USA) (15 August 1982) (153 Screens)
$442,452 (USA) (8 August 1982) (248 Screens)
$562,539 (USA) (1 August 1982) (267 Screens)
$165,980 (USA) (25 July 1982) (189 Screens)
$105,011 (USA) (18 July 1982) (118 Screens)
$182,595 (USA) (11 July 1982) (167 Screens)
$309,079 (USA) (5 July 1982) (237 Screens)
$299,511 (USA) (27 June 1982) (246 Screens)
$477,842 (USA) (20 June 1982) (276 Screens)
$703,089 (USA) (13 June 1982) (357 Screens)
$1,017,967 (USA) (6 June 1982) (478 Screens)
$2,391,058 (USA) (31 May 1982) (708 Screens)
$2,527,864 (USA) (23 May 1982) (704 Screens)

The Road Warrior however, WAS PLANNED before its predecessor

(Reply to this)

Filmociraptor writes:
on Sep 03 2009 01:07 PM

In reply to this comment (#2542677)
Metal Gear is a damn fine idea. Plenty of great story to build off of, awesome characters, great tech. Someone give this man a medal.

(Reply to this)

King Kubrick writes:
on Sep 03 2009 01:35 PM

That's right brother, keep it in Canada. Don't give those hollywood leeches anything. CANADA #1!

I have yet to see district 9; right now I'm in the furthest reaches of Northwestern British Columbia so we don't get all the latest release, but from Neil's description of the D 9 backstory, I'd say a sequel sounds quite interesting

(Reply to this)

Paul K. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 03:25 PM

Seems like the interview ended to early haha. This guy should make some great movies, too bad he wont do Halo, im sure its gonna be made within the next few years no matter who does it, its just inevitable. I dont think they(the filmmakers)would bring that aspect of Master Chief being a product of a Greater Military Complex to Halo without Blomokamps involvement, which is too bad because thats a very compelling thing to talk about, in relation to our own Military Industrial Complex. If he were to accept Halo and deal with the political mumbo jumbo, i think he'd have a very memorable end product. Without him Halo might go all "G.I. Joe" on us, with ****ty paint by the numbers filmmaking. Save us Neil!

(Reply to this)

Paul K. writes:
on Sep 03 2009 03:27 PM

In reply to this comment (#2542760)
Seems like the interview ended to early haha. This guy should make some great movies, too bad he wont do Halo, im sure its gonna be made within the next few years no matter who does it, its just inevitable. I dont think they(the filmmakers)would bring that aspect of Master Chief being a product of a Greater Military Complex to Halo without Blomkamps** involvement, which is too bad because thats a very compelling thing to talk about, in relation to our own Military Industrial Complex. If he were to accept Halo and deal with the political mumbo jumbo, i think he'd have a very memorable end product. Without him Halo might go all "G.I. Joe" on us, with ****ty paint by the numbers filmmaking. Save us Neil!

(Reply to this)

Bigbrother writes:
on Sep 03 2009 03:31 PM

I finally saw District 9 last weekend and gotta say, didn't love it. Don't get me wrong it's a perfectly fine movie and the special effects were definately great for the price, but after all the hype I guess I just expected a bit more. I guess I didn't buy the motivations of the "evil corporate govt times" they just seemed so one dimensional and I guess I just didn't buy them as real people and Vickus was annoying as hell with the constant "Fooking" dialog. I mean there'd be entire scenes that were just nothing but him screaming and saying "fook" endlessly.

I guess I just wasn't paying enough attention, but how did the big ship get activated again? I mean the entire reason they were so fixated on the tube was so they could take the transport to the ship, then just out of the blue the big ship just activates and tractor beams them up, why couldn't it have done that 20 years ago? What did I miss that made that make sense, cause I feel I have to have missed something, but don't want to pay 10 bucks to find out. Again, I enjoyed parts of the movie, but just didn't get the hype to the extent it was given.

(Reply to this)

BUCK69 writes:
on Sep 03 2009 04:04 PM

In reply to this comment (#2542712)
My God, man...My God!

(Reply to this)

djducky writes:
on Sep 03 2009 04:45 PM

In reply to this comment (#2542764)
First of all I LOVED this movie. Secondly, I registered just to reply to the stupidity in this comment. "I guess I wasn't paying attention..." is not a good way to state your point when expressing any opinion. Like a movie or don't, but at least watch the damn thing if you are going to write about it.

(Reply to this)

MadMan23 writes:
on Sep 03 2009 04:56 PM

Nobody should die because they don't have health insurance. Nobody should go broke because they get sick.

(Reply to this)

Bigbrother writes:
on Sep 03 2009 05:31 PM

In reply to this comment (#2542781)
Did you even read my entire comment? I thought I was paying attention to the movie, but because that one part made so little sense to me, I feel I must have zoned out and missed a key element. If you're going to call somebody on something at least be smart enough to understand what they said before you go and comment about them. Please if you loved it so much, explain what I asked about if you can. I was admitting my own potential fallibility because if I didn't miss something that would be a hell of an omission.

(Reply to this)

District 9's success should allow for a follow-up. Is that what you're hoping for?

Would you go for a sequel or prequel?

You left things deliberately open-ended...

What's the back story you had in your mind for how the aliens arrived on Earth?

Do you know what you are doing next?

How far have you got with that story?

Will you continue working with Peter Jackson?

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