Neill Blomkamp made the kind of magic happen that every Hollywood studio dreams of. He made a movie that was really cheap to film look like it cost a ton and he made it tasty enough for it to score big at the box office.
So he’s the man now. So what’s the man to do next? Neill is weighing is options and rubbing his hands together manically. I would as well. The L.A. Times spoke to Mr. Blomkamp about his future plans. Looks like another Sci-Fi is underway. Let’s let Neill speak for himself.
I know what I’m doing now…MRC [Media Rights Capital] is another finance group and they’re putting together the cash for my next film based on a treatment I wrote. I had the idea in my head for about a year. I wrote it within a month of finishing “District 9,” so July or something I suppose, or May…I’m trying to keep it to myself at this point. But it is science fiction and it has many sociopolitical ideas that interest me. Those ideas are wrapped up inside something that is like a Hollywood action film…The setting for the next film takes place 150 years from now. There are two cities that I’m choosing between. They would play as themselves. They are not in South Africa.
Now of course, there is obviously a ton of story left to be told from “District 9″ and Neill wants to tell it.
But a sequel might be interesting. I know what I’m doing next so it wouldn’t be right away. But the concept of aliens in Johannesburg is such an appealing idea to me and the issues of race and how they meet. All of the things that I had going on with it. I wouldn’t mind messing around with it again…And Wikus is so funny to me, I’m very interested in a sort of passive racist like that. If you go forward [with his story beyond District 9] it’s more of a traditional film but if you go backward I’d be intrigued in that. I’m not so interested in aliens coming back and blowing things up but [a prequel] might be interesting.
A prequel. For me, the most interesting part of the movie was the little bit of origin story that was told of the aliens first arrival. I’d like to see more about and especially learn why most of the aliens on board were different from the alien with the little kid that escaped in the end. Thanks to /Film to the L.A. Times for their assistance.
