| District 9 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Neill Blomkamp |
| Written by |
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| Based on | Alive in Joburg[a] by Neill Blomkamp |
| Produced by | |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Trent Opaloch |
| Edited by | Julian Clarke |
| Music by | Clinton Shorter[1][2] |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing (throughSter-Kinekor in South Africa[3]) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 112 minutes[4] |
| Countries | |
| Languages |
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| Budget | $30 million[3] |
| Box office | $210.8 million[3] |
District 9 is a 2009science fiction action film directed byNeill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp andTerri Tatchell, and produced byPeter Jackson andCarolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production ofNew Zealand, theUnited States, andSouth Africa. The film starsSharlto Copley,Jason Cope, andDavid James, and was adapted from Blomkamp's 2005 short filmAlive in Joburg.
The film is partially presented in amock documentary format by featuring fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras. The story, which explores themes ofhumanity,xenophobia andsocial segregation, begins in analternate 1982, when an alien spaceship appears overJohannesburg, South Africa. When a population of sick and malnourished insectoid aliens is discovered on the ship, the South African government confines them to an internment camp called District 9. Twenty years later, during the government's relocation of the aliens to another camp, one of the confined aliens named Christopher Johnson, who is about to try to escape from Earth with his son and return home, crosses paths with a bureaucrat named Wikus van de Merwe leading the relocation. The title and premise ofDistrict 9 were inspired by events inCape Town'sDistrict Six, during theapartheid era.
Aviral marketing campaign for the film began in 2008 atSan Diego Comic-Con, while the theatrical trailer debuted in July 2009.District 9 had its World Premiere on 23 July 2009 at San Diego Comic-Con.[6][7] It was released byTriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009, in North America and became a financial success, earning over $210 million at the box office. The film received critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise for the action, story, themes, Blomkamp's direction, and Copley's performance, although the portrayal of theNigerian characters garnered some criticism. It garnered numerous awards and nominations, including fourAcademy Award nominations forBest Picture,Best Adapted Screenplay,Best Visual Effects, andBest Film Editing.[8]
In 1982, an enormous extraterrestrial spaceship arrives and hovers over theSouth African city ofJohannesburg. Inside, an investigation team finds over a million malnourished insect-like aliens, and the South African government relocates them to a camp calledDistrict 9. Over the years,District 9 becomes a slum, and locals come to view the aliens—derogatorily called "Prawns"—as filthy, violent animals who bleed resources from humans.
Following unrest between the aliens and locals, the government hires Multinational United (MNU), a large defense contractor, to relocate the aliens to a new camp outside the city. Piet Smit, an MNU executive, appoints his son-in-law and MNU bureaucrat, Wikus van de Merwe, to lead the relocation. Meanwhile, three aliens named Christopher Johnson, his young son CJ, and his friend Paul search aDistrict 9 garbage dump for Prawn technology; Christopher has spent the last 20 years synthesizing fuel from their contents. They finally fill an entire container in Paul's shack as the relocation begins, but when Wikus comes to serve Paul a notice, he finds the hidden container and accidentally sprays some fuel into his face. Koobus Venter, a cruel MNU mercenary, kills Paul.
Wikus begins mutating into a Prawn, starting with his left arm that was injured after the exposure. He is taken to an underground MNU lab, where researchers discover his hybrid DNA grants Wikus the ability to operate Prawn weaponry, which is biologically restricted from humans. Seeing the potential for profitable weapons research, Smit orders Wikus' body to be harvested for genetic material. Wikus, however, overpowers the lab personnel and escapes. While Venter's forces hunt him, a fake news story is broadcast claiming Wikus is a wanted fugitive, who has contracted acontagious disease from copulating with aliens.
Wikus takes refuge inDistrict 9, finding Christopher and the spaceship's command moduledropship concealed underneath his shack. Christopher explains that the confiscated fuel is needed to reactivate the dropship, which can then dock with the mothership. This would allow Christopher to rescue his people and return home, and cure Wikus with the equipment onboard. Encouraged by a phone call from his wife, Tania, Wikus steals powerful alien weapons from Obesandjo, aNigerian crime lord who believes eating Wikus' alien arm will grant him alien abilities.
Wikus and Christopher attack MNU and retrieve the fuel from the underground lab, where Christopher is horrified by the brutal experiments MNU has performed on his people. Returning to the shack, Christopher decides that he must leave Earth immediately and return with help, therefore he must postpone curing Wikus' condition. Enraged, Wikus knocks Christopher unconscious and attempts to fly the module to the mothership, but Venter has it shot down. Venter captures Wikus and Christopher, but Obesandjo's gang ambushes them and abduct Wikus.
CJ, who remained hidden in the dropship, remotely activates the mothership and a large robotic alien battle suit in Obesandjo's base. The suit guns down the Nigerians; Wikus enters the suit and rescues Christopher from the mercenaries. Heading towards the dropship, the two come under heavy fire; Wikus decides to stay behind and fend off the mercenaries, buying time for Christopher to escape, who promises to return in three years and cure Wikus. After all of the other mercenaries are killed, Venter finally cripples the suit, but several Prawns kill and dismember him before he can execute Wikus. Christopher makes it into the dropship with CJ, and the dropship is levitated via atractor beam back into the mothership, which finally leaves Earth.
Wikus disappears, MNU's experiments are exposed to the public, and the aliens are moved to a new camp namedDistrict 10. Tania finds a handcrafted metal flower on her doorstep, giving her hope that Wikus is still alive. Wikus, now fully transformed into a Prawn, is shown in a junkyard crafting more flowers for his wife.
LikeAlive in Joburg, the short film on which the feature film is based, the setting ofDistrict 9 is inspired by historical events during theapartheid era, particularly alluding toDistrict Six, an inner-city residential area inCape Town, declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966, with 60,000 peopleforcibly removed toCape Flats, 25 km (16 miles) away.[11] The film also refers to contemporary evictions and forced removals to suburban ghettos in post-apartheid South Africa, as well as the resistance of its residents.[12][13] This includes the high-profile attempted forced removal of theJoe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town totemporary relocation areas inDelft, plus evictions in the shack settlement Chiawelo, where the film was actually shot.[10]Blikkiesdorp, a temporary relocation area in Cape Town, has also been compared with theDistrict 9 camp, earning a front-page spread in theDaily Voice.[14][15]
Dr. Shohini Chauduri wrote thatDistrict 9 even echoes apartheid in its title, as it is reminiscent "ofDistrict 6 in Cape Town, declared a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act". She also discusses how the wide shots used inDistrict 9 strongly emphasize the idea of exclusion under apartheid. The separation of people and "prawns" into human and non-human zones marks South Africa's social divisions.[16]
The film emphasizes the irony of Wikus and the impact of his experiences on his personality, which shows him becoming more humane as he becomes less biologically human. The film uses his story to pose the question of humanity as the "prawn" characters in the film are shown to be kinder to Wikus than the actual humans are as he undergoes his transformation. The film also features the portrayal of Nigerian Arms dealers, provoking thought on conflict between marginalized communities.[17] Chris Mikesell from theUniversity of Hawaii newspaperKa Leo writes that "Substitute 'black,' 'Asian,' 'Mexican,' 'illegal,' 'Jew,' 'white,' or any number of different labels for the word 'prawn' in this film and you will hear the hidden truth behind the dialogue".[18]
Themes ofracism andxenophobia are shown in the form ofspeciesism. Used to describe the aliens, the word "prawn" is a reference to theParktown prawn, aking cricket species considered a pest in South Africa.[19][20] Copley has said that the theme is not intended to be the main focus of the work, but can work at a subconscious level even if it is not noticed. The racism in the film is portrayed on an institutional level, as despite the brutality towards the aliens by MNU exposed to the public they are still relocated as originally planned.[21]
Duane Dudek of theJournal Sentinel wrote that "The result is an action film about xenophobia, in which all races of humans are united in their dislike and mistrust of an insect-like species".[22]
Another underlying theme inDistrict 9 is states' reliance on multinational corporations (whose accountability is unclear and whose interests are not necessarily congruent with democratic principles) as a form of government-funded enforcement. As MNU represents the type of corporation which partners with governments, the negative portrayal of MNU in the film depicts the dangers of outsourcing militaries and bureaucracies to private contractors.[23][24]
ProducerPeter Jackson planned to produce afilm adaptation based on theHalo video game franchise with first-time directorNeill Blomkamp. Due to a lack of financing, theHalo adaptation was placed on hold. Jackson and Blomkamp discussed pursuing alternative projects and eventually chose to produce and direct, respectively,District 9 featuring props and items originally made for theHalo film.[25] Blomkamp had previously directed commercials and short films, butDistrict 9 was his firstfeature film. The director co-wrote the script with his wife,Terri Tatchell, and chose to film in South Africa, where he was born.[26][27]
InDistrict 9, Tatchell and Blomkamp returned to the world explored in hisshort filmAlive in Joburg, choosing characters, moments and concepts that they found interesting including the documentary-style filmmaking, staged interviews, alien designs, alien technology/mecha suits, and the parallels to racial conflict and segregation in South Africa, and fleshing out these elements for the feature film.[28]
QED International financed thenegative cost. After the 2007American Film Market, QED partnered withSony'sTriStar Pictures for distribution in English-language territories, Korea, Italy, Russia and Portugal.[29][30]
The film was shot on location in Chiawelo,Soweto, during a time of violent unrest inAlexandra (Gauteng) and other South African townships involving clashes between native South Africans and Africans born in other countries.[31] The location that portraysDistrict 9 is itself a real impoverished neighbourhood from which people were being forcibly relocated togovernment-subsidised housing.[10] Several scenes were shot at thePonte building.[32]
Filming forDistrict 9 took place during the winter in Johannesburg. According to director Neill Blomkamp, during the winter season, Johannesburg "actually looks likeChernobyl", a "nuclear apocalyptic wasteland". Blomkamp wanted to capture the deserted, bleak atmosphere and environment, so he and the crew had to film during the months of June through July. The film took a total of 60 days of shooting. Filming in December raised another issue in that there was much more rain. Due to the rain, there was a lot of greenery to work with, which Blomkamp did not want. Blomkamp had to cut some of the vegetation in the scenery to portray the setting as desolate and dark.
The film features many weapons and vehicles produced by the South Africanarms industry, including theR5 andVektor CR-21 assault rifles,Denel NTW-20 20 mmanti-materiel rifle,Milkor BXPsubmachine gun,Casspirarmoured personnel carrier,Ratel infantry fighting vehicle,Rooikat armoured fighting vehicle,Atlas Oryx helicopter and militarizedToyota Hilux"technical" pickup truck.[33][34]
Blomkamp said no single film influencedDistrict 9, but cited the 1980s "hardcore sci-fi/action" films such asAlien,Aliens,The Terminator,Terminator 2: Judgment Day,Predator andRoboCop as subconscious influences. The director said, "I don't know whether the film has that feeling or not for the audience, but I wanted it to have that harsh 1980s kind of vibe—I didn't want it to feel glossy and slick."[28]
Because of the amount ofhand-held shooting required for the film, the producers and crew decided to shoot using the digitalRed One4K camera. CinematographerTrent Opaloch used nine digital Red Ones owned by Peter Jackson for primary filming.[35] According to HD Magazine,District 9 was shot on RED One cameras using build 15, Cooke S4 primes and Angenieux zooms. Thedocumentary-style andCCTV-style cam footage was shot on the Sony EX1/EX3 XDCAM-HD. Additionally, the post-production team was warned that the most RED Camera footage they could handle a day was about an hour and a half. When that got to five hours a day additional resources were brought in, and 120 terabytes of data was filled.[36]
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District 9 is essentially an expanded version of director Neill Blomkamp's 2005 short filmAlive in Joburg. It narrates the conflict between aliens and local residents in Johannesburg (referred to as Joburg). Sharlto Copley, who starred inAlive in Joburg, also became the lead actor inDistrict 9.
During the same period, Peter Jackson was planning to produce a film adaptation of theXbox video gameHalo and had chosen Neill Blomkamp as the director. However, due to the interests of major corporations,[who?] the project was indefinitely shelved. Believing in Blomkamp's talent, Peter Jackson decided to fund a new project, investing $30 million dollars for Blomkamp to direct a film of his own choosing. This led to the creation ofDistrict 9.[citation needed]
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The alien settlement depicted in the film was actually shot in an African slum, lending a gritty realism to the setting. Except for the main characters' dwelling and the alien protagonist Christopher's hut, which were temporarily constructed, all the slum shacks were real locations. The depiction of aliens dismembering wild beasts and their fondness for cat food draws a parallel to the desperate living conditions in slums, where inhabitants often rely on carrion or cat food for sustenance.
The idea of aliens eating cat food was inspired by a crew member who used cat food as bait for shrimp during the film's production. Additionally, the narrative of the aliens' relocation in the film mirrors a real event: the demolition of a Johannesburg slum and the subsequent forced relocation of its residents to a government-built settlement area.
This approach in the movie not only adds a layer of authenticity but also serves as a powerful metaphor for the socio-economic issues faced by marginalized communities.[citation needed]
The aliens inDistrict 9 were designed byWeta Workshop, and the design was executed byImage Engine.[citation needed]
Blomkamp wanted the aliens to maintain both humane and barbaric features in the design of the creatures. According to Terri Tatchell, the director's writing partner, "They are not appealing, they are not cute, and they don't tug at our heartstrings. He went for a scary, hard, warrior-looking alien, which is much more of a challenge."[37] The look of the alien, with its exoskeleton-crustacean hybrid and crab-like shells, was meant to initially evoke a sense of disgust from viewers but as the story progresses, the audience was meant to sympathize with these creatures who had such human-like emotions and characteristics. Blomkamp established criteria for the design of the aliens. He wanted the species to be insect-like but also bipedal. The director wanted the audience to relate to the aliens and said of the restriction on the creature design, "Unfortunately, they had to be human-esque because our psychology doesn't allow us to really empathize with something unless it has a face and an anthropomorphic shape. Like if you see something that's four-legged, you think it's a dog; that's just how we're wired ... If you make a film about an alien force, which is the oppressor or aggressor, and you don't want to empathize with them, you can go to town. So creatively that's what I wanted to do but story-wise, I just couldn't."[38]
Blomkamp originally sought to haveWeta Digital design the creatures, but the company was busy with effects forAvatar. The director then decided to choose a Vancouver-based effects company because he anticipated making films there in the future and becauseBritish Columbia offered a tax credit. Blomkamp met with Image Engine and considered them "a bit of a gamble" since the company had not pursued a project as large as a feature film.[28] Aside from the aliens appearing on the operating table in the medical lab, all of them were created usingCGI visual effects.[39]
Weta Digital designed the 21⁄2-kilometer (1½ mile) diameter mothership[40] and the drop ship, while the exo-suit and the little pets were designed byThe Embassy Visual Effects.Zoic Studios performed overflow 2D work.[28] On-set live special effects were created by MXFX.[41] Some of the software used for the visual effects wereAutodesk Softimage.[42]
The music forDistrict 9 was scored by Canadian composer Clinton Shorter, who spent three weeks preparing for the film. Director Neill Blomkamp wanted a "raw and dark" score, but one that maintained its South African roots. This was a challenge for Shorter, who found much of the South African music he worked with to be optimistic and joyful. Unable to get the African drums to sound dark and heavy, Shorter used a combination oftaiko drums and synthesized instruments for the desired effects, with the core African elements of the score conveyed in the vocals and smaller percussion.[43] Both the score and soundtrack feature music and vocals fromKwaito artists.
District 9 held its world premiere in 23 July 2009 at the Reading Gaslamp 15 at San Diego Comic-Con, with Copley, Blomkamp and Jackson in attendance.[44][45] It was released byTriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009.
Sony Pictures launched a "Humans Only" marketing campaign to promoteDistrict 9. Sony's marketing team designed its promotional material to emulate the segregationalbillboards that appear throughout the film.[38] Billboards, banners, posters, and stickers were thus designed with the theme in mind, and the material was spread across public places such as bus stops in various cities, including "humans only" signs in certain locations and providing toll-free numbers to report "non-human" activity.[46][47] This marketing strategy was designed to provoke reactions in its target audience (namely, sci-fi fans and people concerned with discrimination), hence the use of obviously fake segregational propaganda.[48]According to Dwight Caines, Sony's president of digital marketing, an estimated 33,000 phone calls were made to the toll-free numbers during a two-week period with 2,500 of them leaving voicemails with reports of alien sightings.[49] Promotional material was also presented at the 2008San Diego Comic-Con, advertising the website D-9.com,[50] which had an application presented by the fictional Multi-National United (MNU). The website had a local alert system for Johannesburg (the film's setting),news feeds, behavior recommendations, and rules and regulations. Other viral websites for the film were also launched, including an MNU website with a countdown timer for the film's release,[51] an anti-MNU blog run by fictional alien character Christopher Johnson,[52] and an MNU-sponsored educational website.[53][54] An online game forDistrict 9 has also been made where players can choose to be a human or an alien. Humans are MNU agents on patrol trying to arrest or kill aliens. Aliens try to avoid capture from MNU agents whilst searching for alien canisters.[55] This digital approach to marketing follows a rising trend among digital natives who develop marketing trends and techniques which are appropriate to the digital age, and is cost-efficient due to its reliance on social media and communications. This breaking down and circumvention of existing marketing structures followspostmodernist theory in cinema.[48][56]
In July of 2010 collectible and effects companyWētā Workshop (which also did extensive work on the actual film) released a limited edition sculpture of Christopher Johnson and his son.[57]
According to theAmerican Humane Association, the film displays an unauthorized "no animals were harmed" end credit, which is a registered trademark of the group.[58]
TheBlu-ray Disc andregion 1 codewidescreen edition ofDistrict 9 as well as the 2-disc special-edition version onDVD was released on 22 December 2009 bySony Pictures Home Entertainment. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc includes the documentary "The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log" and the special features "Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus", "Innovation: Acting and Improvisation", "Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9", and "Alien Generation: Visual Effects".[59]
The demo for the video gameGod of War III featured in the2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo is also included with the Blu-ray release ofDistrict 9 playable on theSony PlayStation 3.[60][61]
District 9 was released onUltra HD Blu-ray on 13 October 2020.[62]
District 9 grossed US$115.6 million from the United States and Canada, with a worldwide total of $210,819,611, against a production budget of US$30 million.[3]
It opened in 3,048 theatres in Canada and the United States on 14 August 2009, and the film ranked first at the weekend box office with an opening gross of US$37.4 million. Among comparable science fiction films in the past, its opening attendance was slightly less than the 2008 filmCloverfield and the 1997 filmStarship Troopers. The audience demographic forDistrict 9 was 64 percent male and 57 percent people 25 years or older.[46] The film stood out as a summer film that generated strong business despite little-known casting.[63] Its opening success was attributed to the studio's unusual marketing campaign. In the film's second weekend, it dropped 49% in revenue while competing against the opening filmInglourious Basterds for the male audience, as Sony Pictures attributed the "good hold" toDistrict 9's strong playability.[64]
The film enjoyed similar success in the UK with an opening gross of £2,288,378 showing at 447 cinemas.[65]
Rotten Tomatoes givesDistrict 9 an approval rating of 90% based on 314 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The website's consensus states, "Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching,District 9 has action, imagination, and all the elements of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic."[66] OnMetacritic, which assigns aweighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 81 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[67] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[68]
Sara Vilkomerson ofThe New York Observer wrote, "District 9 is the most exciting science fiction movie to come along in ages; definitely the most thrilling film of the summer; and quite possibly the best film I've seen all year."[69]Christy Lemire from theAssociated Press was impressed by the plot and thematic content, claiming that "District 9 has the aesthetic trappings of science fiction but it's really more of a character drama, an examination of how a man responds when he's forced to confront his identity during extraordinary circumstances."[70]Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum described it as "... madly original, cheekily political, [and] altogether exciting..."[71]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and praised it for "giving us aliens to remind us not everyone who comes in a spaceship needs to be angelic, octopod or stainless steel", but complained that "the third act is disappointing, involving standard shoot-out action. No attempt is made to resolve the situation, and if that's a happy ending, I've seen happier. Despite its creativity, the film remainsspace opera and avoids the higher realms of science-fiction."[72] Josh Tyler ofCinema Blend felt the film was unique in interpretation and execution, but considered it to be "a knockoff" of the 1988 filmAlien Nation.[73]
IGN listedDistrict 9 at No. 24 on a list of the Top 25 Sci-Fi Films of All Time.[74]
In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 320.[75]
Nigeria's Information MinisterDora Akunyili asked movie cinemas around the country to either ban the film or edit out specific references to the country because of the film's negative depiction of the Nigerian characters as criminals and cannibals. Letters of complaint were sent to the producer and distributor of the film demanding an apology. She also said the gang leader Obesandjo is almost identical in spelling and pronunciation to the surname of former presidentOlusegun Obasanjo.[76] The film was later banned in Nigeria; the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board was asked to prevent cinemas from showing the film and also to confiscate it.[77]
Hakeem Kae-Kazim, a Nigerian-born British actor, also criticised the portrayal of Nigerians in the film,[78] telling theBeeld (an Afrikaans-language daily newspaper): "Africa is a beautiful place and the problems it does have can not be shown by such a small group of people."[This quote needs a citation]
However, theMalawian actorEugene Khumbanyiwa, who played Obesandjo, has stated that the Nigerians in the cast ofDistrict 9 were not perturbed by the portrayal of Nigerians in the film, and that the film should not be taken literally: "It's a story, you know. It's not like Nigerians do eat aliens. Aliens don't even exist in the first place."[79]
Teju Cole, a Nigerian-American writer, has commented that the "one-dimensionality of the Nigerian characters is striking," even when taking into account thatDistrict 9 is meant to be afable. He suggests two possible explanations for Blomkamp's narrative choice: first, that it is meant to reflect anti-foreigner sentiment within South Africa, or second, that it simply represents an oversight on Blomkamp's part.[80]
In 2013, the film was one of several discussed byDavid Sirota inSalon.com in an article concerningwhite savior narratives in film.[81]
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas discusses Wikus's self-identity inDistrict 9 as problematic due to him being a white man and the hero of the film. Nicholas argues that a white saviour "disempowers the film's allegory to apartheid that comments on the corruption of the South African government" as well as the discrimination black South Africans dealt with during and post-apartheid. Making Wikus the "white savior" backtracks from the main message ofDistrict 9 which is to show the audience the detrimental effects "of colonialism brought by the Western world". Another point Nicholas makes is thatDistrict 9 is a "stereotypical White Saviour film". She states that the plot is about a white man working for the government, who has roots "in South Africa's apartheid culture", involuntarily joining the "victims of apartheid". In this case, instead of black people, it's Prawns.[82]
It has been argued[83] that Wikus's grotesque transformation is indicative of the fact that "While biological discourses of racial subhumanity might have been expunged from public knowledges in the postapartheid nation, contemporary South Africa continues to be structured according to the binary that undergirds such narratives."[84]
District 9 was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2009 by theNational Board of Review of Motion Pictures. The film also won The Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. The film received fourAcademy Awards nominations for: Best Motion Picture of the Year (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham), Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell), Best Achievement in Film Editing (Julian Clarke) and Best Achievement in Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken); sevenBritish Academy Film Awards nominations: Best Cinematography (Trent Opaloch), Best Screenplay – Adapted (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell), Best Editing (Julian Clarke), Best Production Design (Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter), Best Sound (Brent Burge, Chris Ward, Dave Whitehead, Michael Hedges and Ken Saville), Best Special Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken) and Best Director (Neill Blomkamp); fiveBroadcast Film Critics Association nominations: Best Makeup (Won), Best Screenplay, Adapted (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell), Best Sound, Best Visual Effects and Best Action Movie; and oneGolden Globe nomination: Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell).[85]
It is the fifthTriStar Pictures film ever nominated for Best Picture at theAcademy Awards (the previous four wereAs Good as It Gets,Jerry Maguire,Bugsy andPlaces in the Heart). It won the 2009Bradbury Award from theScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.[86]
On 1 August 2009, two weeks beforeDistrict 9 was released to cinemas, Neill Blomkamp hinted that he intended to make a sequel if the film was successful enough. During an interview on theRude Awakening94.7 Highveld Stereo breakfast radio show, he alluded to it, saying "There probably will be." Nevertheless, he revealed that his next project is unrelated to theDistrict 9 universe.[87]In an interview withRotten Tomatoes, Blomkamp stated that he was "totally" hoping for a follow-up: "I haven't thought of a story yet but if people want to see another one, I'd love to do it."[88]Blomkamp has posed the possibility of the next movie in the series being aprequel.[89]In an interview withEmpire magazine posted on 28 April 2010, Sharlto Copley suggested that a follow-up, while very likely, would be about two years away, given his and Neill Blomkamp's current commitments.[90]
In an interview withIGN in June 2013, Blomkamp said, "I really want to make aDistrict 9 sequel. I genuinely do. The problem is I have a bunch of ideas and stuff that I want to make. I'm relatively new to this—I'm about to make my third film, and now the pattern that I'm starting to realise is very true is that you lock yourself into a film beyond the film you're currently working on. But it just doesn't work for me." Referring to a potential sequel, Blomkamp said "[he] want[s] to makeDistrict 10 at some point."[91]
On 26 February 2021, Neill Blomkamp revealed on his official Twitter that development was moving ahead on a script for a sequel, titledDistrict 10, with Sharlto Copley and Terri Tatchell co-writing the screenplay with him.[92]
On 19 August 2022, Sharlto Copley said in an interview thatDistrict 10 was still in discussions; that both he and Blomkamp had written drafts for it, and that the film would probably have a chance once Blomkamp was done shootingGran Turismo.[93]
In August 2023, Blomkamp was asked about aDistrict 9 sequel while promotingGran Turismo and hinted at the project being shelved indefinitely. "I don't know if it's getting made or not," Blomkamp told Brian Davids ofThe Hollywood Reporter. "I don't know if I even want to make that right now, but at some point down the line, it'll probably get made."[94]
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