Neill Blomkamp Considers District 9 Prequel, Not As His Next Film

Neill Blomkamp is one of the more interesting new directors working today. His made-for-nothing tentpole-style District 9 has brought him heaps of attention, and no few offers from studios who want his name attached to their big films. But he seems totally disinterested in going the full Hollywood route. He has another film lined up — a sci-fi picture he's writing now, set 150 years in the future — but he's still tempted to go back to the slums of District 9.

The LA Times has been doling out installments of a long interview with the director. In the second part, he says,

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.

But questions about further expansions of the world seen in District 9 persist. Every possible idea has been run by him, with a video game, TV series and additional film being the obvious steps to take. In the interview's third part, he says, "District 9 as a game would be fascinating," he says. "There's nothing happening with it though." And he nixes the idea of a TV series right off. "I just don't want to do that."

What about a film sequel or prequel?

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.