neill blomkamp Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Last March, the trades confirmed that Peter Berg was the latest director brave enough (or foolish enough) to tackle a new adaptation of Frank Herbert's legendary Dune. News has been scarce since, though just last month Berg was assuring MTV that he was still involved, and that he was trying to crunch Josh Zetumer's 200-page script into something manageable "without offending the purists." Other than some intriguing Robert Pattinson casting rumors, there hasn't been much for fans to really discuss or rant about. But an intriguing story has popped up on Pajiba. Their inside source claims that Berg has dropped out of the Dune remake, and that Paramount is scrambling for a new director.

The search is fraught with difficulty for Paramount, according to Pajiba's source. "The search, however, has run into two issues: 1) they're looking for a director who can put the movie together for under $175 million, which sounds manageable, but they don't want anything resembling the crap effects of the '84 film, and 2) they want a director who already has a preexisting passion for the novel and is enthusiastic about the project." But the search has allegedly landed on two splashy newcomers: Neil Marshall and and Neill Blomkamp. Marshall is said to be the frontrunner, championed by producer Kevin Misher. But the studio lukewarm on Marshall's resume and likes Blomkamp, who they feel has the "vision" for the film.

This is all rumor and speculation at this point, and nowhere is it stated why Berg dropped out of the remake. (A schedule conflict would be likely. Berg has one heck of a full plate.) There's also something a little too dreamy about those mentions of Blomkamp and Marshall. I'm very, very curious to see how this little rumor is played out, and if it could lead to a Dune adaptation that's palatable and faithful to Herbert.

I know it's a huge bummer that Iron Man director Jon Favreau told MTV that he's not going to be directing The Avengers, Marvel's forthcoming superhero omnibus film that'll feature the likes of The Hulk, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and whoever else the now Disney-owned studio wants to create a new action figure for. Favreau would love to do it, and he'll executive produce, but logistically he is just not going to be available to direct. Obviously that's not going to stop Marvel from moving forward with the guaranteed moneymaker, so here are five humble suggestions for replacement.

Before we let the fanboy inside us explode at the possibilities, let's keep things a bit grounded. They've got to be directors who could tackle something in the fantasy-action realm and they have to be available; so even though I'd be game for them, busy A-listers like Christopher Nolan or J.J. Abrams just aren't practical.

Charges that Neill Blomkamp's science fiction blockbuster District 9 was racist began popping up almost immediately upon the film's release back in August. Considering the film features an in-over-their-head South African government that allows a mega-corporation to quarantine and exploit an entire alien race, one may assume the obvious core parable for apartheid was at the heart of the racism charges, but aliens-in-a-concentration-camp was not the bullseye of most accusations. The actual problem some people had was with the portrayal of a Nigerian gang that illegally traded alien technology when not mutilating and devouring unsuspecting aliens in crude shaman-led rituals intended to imbue them with extraterrestrial powers, so to speak.

Nothing much came of the hullabaloo until recently, when the film found its way into Nigerian movie theaters. According to a BBC report on the matter, "The information minister said she had ordered the Nigerian film and video censors' board to ask all cinemas to stop showing the film and to confiscate it. "I have also formally written to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the company that produced this film, demanding an unconditional apology for this unwarranted attack on Nigeria's image," she added."

I realize that different movies receive different marketing campaigns to emphasize different elements for different audiences in different territories, but these two Thai posters for District 9 (courtesy of IMP Awards) are selling something different from what's in the actual movie.

If Exhibit A on the left is to be believed, the film features one city-destroying robot and multiple motherships. It's like Transformers meets Independence Day, and if it were actually the case, it'd guarantee beaucoup baht at the box office. The other poster, our Exhibit B, adhere to the one mothership present in the film, but then suggest that there are multiple man-sized robots running amok -- again, selling the idea of a robot rampage that is simply not in the film.

(Hell, that robot suit doesn't even factor in much before the last twenty minutes; how disappointing might that fact be?)

This is simply the most misleading piece of marketing I've seen in quite some time. The worst thing going on Stateside at the moment is a trailer for Whiteout that implies a monster movie is in the cards for anyone going to see their serial killer thriller. Now, I ask you guys and girls to share: what are some of the most egregious trailer and poster deceptions that you've experienced at the movies?

In the same way that higher-profile actors are jumping on the video game ship sans shame, so too are movie writers like Wanted's Chris Morgan. Morgan has signed up for a rather daunting task – working as the story director for the massive and practically holy sci-fi series The Wheel of Time by the late Robert Jordan.

Variety reports that this job entails "overseeing the writing on the titles, working with executive producers and writers to help develop story arcs and helping to digest the book series' 10,000 pages and over 1,700 characters."

(Of course, Morgan and the other two screenplay writers, Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, were taken to task by fans for not sticking to the original comic book story all that much. However, compared to comic book purists, the wrath of Robert Jordan fans can be deadly. Or so I hear.)

Morgan isn't the only screenwriter who has dipped his toes into the pixellated pool. Saw director James Wan is one of the writers for the Saw video game, which surprisingly got some good gamer feedback from its preview at SDCC. And David McKenna, who wrote American History X, Get Carter, Blow, and Bully, wrote Scarface: The World is Yours, which got generally mixed reviews.

Neill Blomkamp isn't a name that most moviegoers know yet, but in a matter of days that's going to change dramatically. After an overwhelmingly positive reception at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Blomkamp's directorial debut District 9 arrives in theaters with a wave of critical acclaim (not to mention word of mouth) pushing it towards becoming the possible sleeper hit of the summer. Needless to say, it doesn't hurt that the film was nurtured through production by Peter Jackson, but given the depth and substance of its engaging, thought-provoking sci-fi subject matter, District 9 seems destined to be a place that many people will soon visit.

The film stars newcomer Sharlto Copley as a South African social worker who finds himself caught up in a battle between the alien refugees and the military who plans to relocate them. Cinematical spoke to Blomkamp in the days after Comic-Con to discuss its reception, its conception, and everything in between. In addition to talking about th the film's weighty themes, Blomkamp talked about its many technical challenges, and reflected on what about it seems to strike a chord with moviegoers.

Cinematical: Maybe just to get started you can talk about how you conceived the structure of this, in particular the idea of combining a loosely scripted structure with a lot of improvisation.

Do we really need another alien invasion picture? When it's as hellaciously entertaining as District 9, the answer is a resounding "Yes!"

A huge spaceship comes to a sudden halt above Johannesburg, South Africa, stranding all its passengers on Earth. Twenty years later, the alien settlement has become a crime-filled shantytown; the visitors from outer space, derisively called "prawns" because of their resemblance to sea creatures, have worn out their welcome. They have refused to assimilate into human culture and stubbornly insist on speaking their own language instead of learning an Earth-friendly tongue. Local residents have had enough. The government hires MNU, a weapons development corporation with its own private army, to evict the prawns from their walled-off ghetto and relocate to a new tent city, where it is hoped that they will no longer disturb humans.

The premise immediately invites comparisons with Alien Nation, Cloverfield, District 13, Escape From New York, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, and on and on. The initial scenes only add to this impression by unreeling in a mock-documentary style, featuring interviews with human witnesses and excerpts from television broadcasts. But thanks to the ingenuity of director Neill Blomkamp and his co-writer Terri Tatchell (perhaps with a nudge in the right direction by producer Peter Jackson), District 9 swiftly establishes its own tough-minded, smart identity. Think of it as Independence Day for adults.

Last night Comic-Con was put on pause while we attended a screening of the Peter Jackson-produced District 9. We were prepared for massive amounts of CGI, but we were definitely not prepared for the huge amounts of awesome that were dumped into our eyes and brains. Honestly, I haven't been this moved by a film or a performance in quite some time. Lead actor (and relative unknown) Sharlto Copley brings such a dynamic human performance to the role while going through an extremely satisfying character arc. And in a sci-fi movie to boot.

This movie has flown under the radar for a lot of people, and Jackson himself said that no one contacted them during filming to try and get interviews and set visits, so they just quietly worked on churning out a movie that you'll definitely want to see when it opens on August 14.

Read the rest at SciFi Squad

District 9 has been the buzz of Comic-Con so far, especially after last night's screening and the panel inside the massive Hall H today, where they showed off a lot of footage from the movie that is still three weeks away. Below, you can check out a gallery full of new images from the movie, and see what the aliens look like. Well, from the neck up at least.

Is it really so that one of the biggest geeks in the world has never attended Comic-Con? We have to cut Peter Jackson some slack, of course, since he's from New Zealand and has been so obsessed with making movies that his schedule hasn't permitted him to attend in the past. He will be making the trip this year, though, in support of District 9, which he produced.

Jackson will participate in a panel discussion on Friday, July 24, along with the film's director, Neill Blomkamp, and star Sharlto Copley. And if you said, 'Blom who? Sharlto what?' that's probably a good reason for Jackson to make the trip: he's the kind of marquee attraction that can draw attention to a film without other widely-recognizable names attached. The trailer for District 9 looks pretty darn good. William Goss described the premise as: "What if aliens landed in South Africa and were cooped up there for a bit too long?" In the teaser, one of the aliens says, "We mean you no harm. We just want to go home," which gave me visions of Predator crossed with E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. And to tie the film back into Comic-Con, a mysterious, pervasive anti-alien marketing campaign appeared at last year's con, as Elisabeth Rappe reported.

In a prepared statement, Jackson said: "After all these years, I'm thrilled that I finally have the opportunity to visit San Diego for Comic-Con ... I know that those who visit us on July 24th in Hall H will be in for quite a ride." District 9 hits theaters nationwide on August 14, so Jackson's appearance, no doubt with an extended clip from the film, should boost awareness. Not to mention thrill just about every fan boy in attendance!