Would-Be Halo Movie Director Shows The Alien Ghettos Of District 9

I've been looking forward to this since I first saw the short film and heard Jackson was producing a full-length feature about a year ago. Now that I've seen the trailer... I'm still looking forward to it. All that's left to do is try to avoid the usual plot spoilers for a month and a half.

Dayv

I think i just wet myself...want...now

Smehrt Shirt

Man has spectacular vision...He made this for Adidas.

@bonedog73: Australia and Russia get it first on the 13th, followed by USA and Estonia on the 14th. South Africa don't get it till 28th August, and worst of all I don't get it (New Zealand) until the 15th October!

@dick.fickling: Maybe even more so referencing the illegal Zimbabwe 'aliens' that cross the border into SA

@Darksider1972: You're right. It is very unlikely that could happen, but it seems like your questionhas something to do with the "Things don't go well" part of the film. I am guessing that the Aliens only put up with the crap for so long and after a while their peaceful nature gets worn away. WAG.

bustedchain

I think it looks like a neat film, but god DAMN that trailer was annoying. Here's a flash of...oh nevermind here's what you really want to see--wait! no! look at--over here--ah! no, THIS!! If the entire film is like this, I'm not sure I'd be able to watch it!

After watching that, it looks significantly better than I thought it would.

nbsp

My friend worked on this film. Looks cool. Shame we have to listen to South African accents all the way through

pexton

Actually looks interesting.

@beneditor: Grrr

beneditor

@nutbastard: live action cowboy bebop? who's the director?

os_2

Yes it is stupid to think these alien refugues with the highly advance technology would allow the humans to do that to them. Unless they were testing them and they failed. Or a long complicated plan to take over the Earth.

chapoec

@nutbastard: C'mon now... that's not funny... don't do that to me...

tehsquish - Still plays Ultima Online

@zeroprime: I bet there were a lot of people in 1979 that thought a movie about space marines and an alien would be really dumb just based upon the preview. Just saying.

Project_J187

@Darksider1972: It has something to do with the fact that they need fuel or energy that we somehow got ahold of and won't give back. The aliens also seem like they don't want to use force (at least at first) so they just let us push them around.

Project_J187

@nutbastard: Wait, they actually locked him in as Spike? NOOOOOOoooooooo......oooo.....ooo

Does anyone else see the correlation between the plot of District 9 and apartheid (which was a cultural crisis based in, you guessed it, Neil Blomkamp's home country)? Maybe I'm just drawing strange conclusions, or maybe this is a publicized connection for the film. But I was wondering if I was the only one.

Interesting. It seems there is a lot more action in this movie than the original trailers suggested. I thought it was going to be more of a fake-documentary. I'm still excited to see it.

The5thElephant

@nutbastard: Just wait until they announce a live action Trigun with Tom Cruise as Vash...

@nutbastard: I remember reading about that. It makes me a sad panda. Reeves isn't gritty enough to be Spike, he's too detached. Spike doesn't talk much, but he's a goddamned MAN. Keanu will give us contorted facial expressions, and badly-delivered one-liners. Hugh Jackman would make a better Spike, and he's really better suited to Jet.

root02

If Will Smith was in it would probably get better ratings.

jakster4u

My boss showed me the non-halo short quite some time ago and I remember thinking that this should definitely be made into a movie...and here it is. Exciting.

@marcsiry: Wow. I haven't thought about that show in forever. This movie looks amazing!

nohumanape

@marcsiry: yes, you must be the only person older than 20 on these boards.... similar ideas, drastically different execution. the newcomers werent "forced" to stay on earth...

@marcsiry: I think the concept is similar, but in Alien Nation the aliens were humanoid while D9 the aliens are really alien. They don't seem to be able or not sure if they speak English/human.
The point is that it would be a lot easier to be xenophobic towards them.

@SigmundTheSeaMonster: Yes it's shot on RED.

hd1080ts

Since some District 9 commercials are news-like, my grandma was freaked out about this because she thought it was real.

TheMightyTexMex

Nice Trailer, I don't understand how an advance alien race superior to ours can be forced to stay on Earth while we look at their advanced technological goodies? I guess I have to see the movie to find that answer out.

NBC is getting into the alien disaster porn too.

[warmingglow.uproxx.com]

@Kaiser-Machead:

did you know they're making a live action cowboy bebop movie... and keaneu reeeves is locked in as spike spiegel?

@SuppleMonkey: Malcontention2.0. The Disenchantment Super-Highway

@Jawdy:

You are right, there's a big difference between being refugees and being forced to stay on the planet, at least according to what little i can get from the preview

Luis Salazar

@DeusExMach: Forumfretting?

@DeusExMach: Blogbitching?

@SuppleMonkey: WikiWhining?

@phantam: "8under my radar" - You must be excited! (Me too)

Sam

@Sushiwriter: You mean like you are, complaining about people who complain?

So, what, that's like "metacomplaining"? And that's better somehow?

@BergenCountyJC:

The d-9 trailer has a more cohesive story and as more interesting then all of Bay's movie.

@Saboth: Ditto, I have Dish, and am slowly realizing the amount of total crap that I am paying wayyyy too much for. Thankfully my wife is seeing the writing on the wall and we are ever so close to chopping that connection.

billzbub

Did he film with the Red.com camera?

SigmundTheSeaMonster

@Kaiser-Machead:

i know. slim pickin's lately. and i STILL want firefly back : (

The VFX in District 9 are by:
Image Engine - Vancouver [www.image-engine.com]
The Embassy - Vancouver [www.theembassyvfx.com]
Weta Digital - New Zealand [www.wetafx.co.nz]

Prosthetics and vehicles by Weta Workshop [www.wetaworkshop.co.nz]

hd1080ts

@SuppleMonkey: no ideas "left." You realize that Huston's "The Maltese Falcon" starring Bogart was the THIRD movie version of the novel?

If you're gonna whinge about lack of originality, come up with an original complaint.

Sushiwriter

@TheSonOfKrypton: I know! the night before i go back to school. I'm gonna go see this, the only question is should i see it before or after i get fucked up.

@royoftroy:
Funny - I was thinking the Cars. Halo. Again.

Sushiwriter

@Kaiser-Machead: It's been a long time since I've seen good scifi.

FrankenPC

@zeroprime: Why were they stuck on earth? But when you think about it, if aliens were to become stuck on earth, something like would definitely happen depending on which country they landed...

This movie looks to be a combination of Half-Life and Alien Nation. Sign me up.

@Bandit: "Cuz if you liked it then you shoulda put a halo on it"?

@Saboth: as long as Olivia Munn is still on TechTV i will watch

Grahmo

@deliciousburglar: It is cheaply done. IIRC it had a 30 million dollar budget... total. That was probably the catering expense on Transformers 2.

Its a concept film. You get a lot of people that weigh everything the same but you can't put a movie like this and transformers against each other. They're not the same kind of movie. Its like all the people trying to compare Moon to the summer blockbusters, you can't do it.

Weta is going to do an awesome job like they always do, don't get me wrong. They're just not going to be able to throw money at it like a big blockbuster.

tande04

Ok - guess I'm the only one who thinks this but....

This looks about as lame as that linked Halo short. It would be passable as a fan film (albeit one with slightly better - yup, slightly better - special effects), but the acting, pacing and dialogue were B-grade at best.

Just what the world needs, another Steven Seagal movie. Wait, he's in it, right?

Oh - and if you think I'm trolling - wrong. I guarantee, based on this, that the movie will suck, based on performance alone.

beneditor

So a technologically advanced species with superior intellect and machinery is supposedly locked down in ghettos, isolated from humans, for 28 years.

It is possible to make a movie highlighting the problems inherent to any one group oppressing another without it being totally ham-fisted. You can even use aliens as a metaphor without it being totally ham-fisted. Too bad this movie's message looks totally ham-fisted.

Completely willing to look past the initial setup, though; it looks to be awesome after you get past a few ridiculous premises.

zeroprime

@marcsiry: Weren't they "refugees" in Alien Nation? Not that I actually know the overall premise of District 9... either way, it looks fantastic :-)

Jawdy

@SuppleMonkey: Yeah V looks good though...

They're also remaking Quantum Leap.

I'm sure we could play this game all day.

tande04

@deliciousburglar:
i don't think it's cheap, in fact i think they're some of the best sfx i've seen this summer. the effects are made to blend into the movie and not draw attention to themselves, as opposed to the transformer-esque "hey look at me i'm a colorful bright robot with FLAMES".

the sfx here look better than transformers. my 2cents

friedgold

@DeusExMach:

I feel the same way. The channels I watch on cable are slowly being checked off.

Cartoon Network: Regeared towards tweens and shows live action shows and movies. RIP old anime and shows like Justice League.
Sci Fi: Wrestling and regeared towards more "non-nerdish people".
G4: Shows Cops and shows totally unrelated to tech.

If my wife would let me, I would have cancelled cable by now.

Saboth

@DeusExMach: It will be OK, it will be OK.

tande04

marcsiry: Alien Nation was a movie before it was a TV show.

@"V". I know, different premise than Alien Nation, but just another example of how most of Hollywood has no original ideas left.

@Bandit: Soil's Halo would be better

i like the special effects, something is odd about it. my first impression was that it was cheaply done, something about lighting. but it just looks like a nice new visual take.

deliciousburglar

@tande04: SO pissed off at what they've done to my favorite channel. Pro wrestling was the first shot. Rebranding it SyFy was the killing stroke.

@IcemanD: There is no way this can be as successful as the Halo games. It literally just can't happen, not to mention the likelihood of this being any kind of blockbuster is pretty small.

This movie isn't going to have anything to do with the Halo project. Halo just got way to big, way to expensive, and way to many hands in the pot way to quick.

tande04

@Kris Aubuchon: Let's not quibble about the details.

@friedgold: Thats part of the concept.

tande04

Ho! yeah! Looks very great. August 14th, I'll be there.

NicleT

@friedgold: Ugh, I'd prefer not to bring a prerequisite barf bag to the movie. Sorry, but I'll pass on that idea.

@phantam: I have a feeling if this is successful you will see the Halo project come up for approval again.

IcemanD

@BergenCountyJC: Yeah, except the part where this is nothing like transformers.

Kris Aubuchon

This looks to be completely awesome.

Kris Aubuchon

This guy needs to make a new Firefly film. :P

Oh, and Halo, too, I guess.

@Zombies?: Wiki says August 14th too

tobedetermined

that movie looks pretty effin awesome.

mdc632

this movie was 8under my radar but DAYMN THIS IS A MUST SEE

WTF halo has a huge following and this dude is bad ass, so why not make it? he and peter look like they'd do a wicked movie.

Here's hoping the entire movie is made documentary style a-la "cloverfield". probably not, but that would be awesome.

friedgold

"August 25th" eh? The trailer says the 14th.

Anyway it looks bad freakin ass and I'll be seeing it whenever it's released!

bonedog73

@marcsiry: They're remaking that actually.

So everyone will remember, or know, or not its on SyFy after all.

tande04

@Joshua Jackson: IMDB says 14th.

I guess no one here is old enough to remember when this was on TV and called "Alien Nation."

marcsiry

@royoftroy: I see what you did there. :)

Bweetza

Since Denzel Washington is no longer playing Master Chief, is he involved in this film in any way?

Best part of that whole trailer: "August 14th".

I cannot WAIT! That was incredible!

Looks great. I'm excited for it.

So in other words, this is what Transformers should have been? (note the awesome part where there is a alien in a transformer-esque exoskeleton

BergenCountyJC

@Zombies?: And the trailers says August 14!

Joshua Jackson

The movie looks absolutely amazing, up until it starts looking like terminator salvation or transformers. I really hope this movie is good, the premise is so interesting, but I have a feeling they will fuck it up.

Shane Lloyd

I have a feeling its going to be one of those movies that everyone has such high hopes for.. and then it flops..100% fail.

I do hope I'm wrong though.

SeventhExile

Is it the 25th or the 15th? Im confused io9 says the 15th and gizmodo says the 25. Whatever this movie looks great.

Zombies?

Ah sweet sweet scifi, how I've been jonesing for a new fix. Can't wait to see this movie.

Kaiser-Machead

@Bandit: Or Foo Fighters...

royoftroy

is that an Iron Man-esque suit i see in 1:36, 1:44, and 1:52? or is that one of the aliens?

This, along with the movie "9", are two of the few movies that I'm actually getting really excited about this year. I liked t:4 and Star trek, but wasn't going out of my way to see them. District 9 may have me moving plans around though.

Count me in for opening night as well. I was thrilled to fin out that they were making a feature length film from the short.
Looks like it is going to be fantastic.

All they need is Beyonce do to the theme music; "Halo"

I'm really excited about this movie. Looks like a new and fresh take on a very old social problem. I will also be seeing it opening week.

IcemanD

@dick.fickling: I don't want to come off as anything less than polite, but *everyone with eyes* sees the correlation between the plot of District 9 and apartheid.

Daveinva