D9 Dossier

On the red carpet

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:27:23 +0000

District 9 didn’t take home any Oscars last night, but Neill Blomkamp was interviewed on the red carpet about the film’s success and his future plans. He’s still playing it close to the vest, but for what it’s worth, here are his comments.

Interview with Julian Clarke

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:47:10 +0000

As Oscar night approaches, the Vancouver Sun has an interview with District 9′s other Oscar nominee, editor Julian Clarke.

Neill Blomkamp’s next project

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:06:28 +0000

No, not his next feature film… he’ll be directing a music video for South African rap/performance artist group Die Antwoord, according to a New York Magazine interview with their lead artist “Ninja.”

You can see some of Die Antwoord’s antics here (this is a different video not directed by Blomkamp):

“Secrets of District 9″

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:10:02 +0000

No, it’s not a real book – but don’t you wish it was? UKNR Correspondent Grey Bradnam’s blistering expose on what’s really going on inside District 9!

(Too bad the publisher misspelled Bradnam’s last name…)

New interview with Jason Cope

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:46:46 +0000

Dr Gore’s Funhouse has a new interview up with Jason Cope. An excerpt:

“Christopher was one of the most difficult things I’ve done: The layers of abstraction over his character were intense: He was a star wars VFX alien who couldn’t speak English and looked like a giant roach. And yet, the audience would have to end up liking Christopher, and nobody else. Neill wanted a journey for the audience: from revulsion to acceptance: working on than journey was challenging. We had to create a senstive, caring dad in the guise of giant roach, and yet not walk an OTT Disney road.”

Another interview with Terri Tatchell

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:25:46 +0000

Terri Tatchell sat down for a twenty-minute interview at her alma mater, Vancouver Film School, to talk District 9. Among the topics covered – the Nigerian controversy, how Neill Blomkamp feels about the movie’s discarded scenes (no, we don’t get to see them, ever), and more.

More interviews with VFS people who worked on D9 can be found here.

District 9 collectibles on the way

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:28:14 +0000

Not a whole lot of information about it, but WETA has announced they will be producing a line of District 9 collectible figures. (Now you too can wantonly torture (fake) Wikus and rip (fake) Koobus’ head off!?)

Updated: Slashfilm reports that some of the collectibles will be full-size replica guns, to the tune of about $500 each.

Of course, if that’s too steep for you, don’t forget you can always roll your own.

(Wired reports that the arc gun has already sold out.)

D9 in 3D?

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:04:22 +0000

Slashfilm reports that Sony may have plans to re-release District 9 in 3-D Blu-Ray format:

Bloomberg is now reporting that Sony Pictures might even begin upconverting older catalogue films to 3D, but not for theatrical rerelease, but instead to promote the new digital 3D Blu-ray technology. While no titles have yet to be announced, it is expected that Sony would feature popular catalog titles like Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Men in Black, Gladiator, and possibly newer blockbuster films like 2012, District 9 and Zombieland.

What’s next for District 9 writers?

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:11:25 +0000

IO9 has an interview with screenwriter Terri Tatchell (just co-nominated for the Best Screenplay Oscar) where she says a little more about what she and Neill Blomkamp are (separately) working on.

The film I’m working on now is an adaptation of a short film called Terminus. It’s a bit more science fiction, fantasy. It’s about a stone creature that follows this stressed-out guy around, just stressing him more and more. It was incredibly well received, and the director that created it, [Trevor Cawood] hasn’t done a feature yet, and he’s really talented. I approached him about writing a feature script of that. It’s been a little more challenging than I expected it to be. I’m probably on my second draft now. I’m not ready to send it off yet, but we’ll see.

District 9 gets 4 Oscar nominations

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:40:21 +0000

District 9 scored 4 Academy Award nominations today, including Best Picture! Also named were Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for their adapted screenplay; Julian Clarke for editing; and of course, a nomination for Best Visual Effects.

The Oscars will be given out on March 7.

(And here are Neill Blomkamp’s personal 5 favorite movies of the year…)