In a recent interview with The L.A. Times Neill Blomkamp talked all things District 9, including video game adaptations, a potential TV series and the prospect of returning to the hell of District 9 for another film.
While there’s no movement on the video game front, despite Blomkamp being linked to the touted Halo movie and being a keen gamer himself, the thought of revisiting the prawn strewn Johannesburg elicit a few choice remarks from the director. Slight spoilers for District 9 are below, but really – you should have seen this by now.
…a sequel might be interesting… the concept of aliens in Johannesburg is such an appealing idea to me and the issues of race and how they meet… I wouldn’t mind messing around with it again. I’m open to it if the story works and there’s a reason to do it. And [Copley’s character] 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.
It’s good to see that there isn’t an imminent cash-in, surprising in these days of rehash and rebake, and it remains the story that is important to Blomkamp, and certainly there was enough scope and detail in the world he created for the director make more of the alien apartheid tale. The flawlessly created 80s TV montage of the arrival of the aliens which began the film not only gave the film a sense of context but also set it apart from being another Independence Day.
Personally I’d rather see Blompkamp leave District 9 behind, not out of any sense of respect for the film, rather Blomkamp needs to keep moving forward and challenging and developing his craft and finding new stories to tell. I know there are many people who would love to see District 10, or a 80s set prequel detailing the arrival of the alien craft but I’m not one of them.
The film was a line in the sand, proving that sci-fi film can be successfully made for a relatively low budget to a very positive critical reaction. The alien apartheid analogy is an interesting one and served the film very well, enabling an exploration of morality and what it is to be human. It left us with a beautifully uncertain future, like a glance into a terrible alternative present, and to look again, with the expectations we would bring with us, would blind us to what made the first look so special.
So, what do you think? Prequel, sequel, TV series, or leave well alone?
