Neill Blomkamp Confirms District 9 Sequel District 10 Is Moving Forward

Filmmaker Neil Blomkamp has taken to social media to confirm that the sequel to his breakout 2009 sci-fi action film District 9 is in active development, and will be titled District 10. In a tweet, Blomkamp informed fans that “District 10 screenplay also being written by @sharlto @territatchell and I. Its coming…”. The two people Blomkamp references are none other than District 9 star Sharlto Copley and Blomkamp’s wife/collaborator Terri Tatchell, who are also apparently involved with screenwriting duties on the sequel. This is a big step forward, as District 10 – and really all of Blomkamp’s film projects – have seemed to linger in limbo the last few years (see: Alien 5).

District 9 was a potent combination of a sci-fi allegory about racial injustice (specifically regarding Blomkamp’s homeland of South Africa and its dark Apartheid history), and a brilliant showcase of Blomkamp’s signature photo-real visual effects. It was the original 2006 short film concept for District 9 (“Alive In Joburg”) that got Blomkamp noticed by Hollywood; Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson tried to put Blomkamp at the helm of his planned Halo video game movie adaptation, but no one would finance the film with untested talent like Blomkamp directing. Instead, Blomkamp used the pre-production designs and props for Halo to make the feature-length District 9 film.

As viewers know, District 9 has been begging for a sequel – if not an entire franchise universe expansion. The original film ends with Sharlto Copley’s bumbling bureaucrat character, Wikus van de Merwe, being fully transformed from a human into one of the “Prawn” aliens that have been quarantined in South Africa’s slums. Meanwhile, Christopher, the alien father that Wikus helped escape from Earth, is still honor-bound to return and free the rest of his people – and possibly declare war on humanity for its savage cruelty. The remaining “Prawns” were relocated to a new secure camp, called (you guessed it) District 10.

Much of the social metaphor explored in District 9 has since exploded into the cultural mainstream. 2020 alone saw issues of race, wealth disparity, and healthcare concerns related to socio-economic factors all become crucial discussion topics in the midst of a pandemic and civil unrest. In that sense, the world has basically written District 10 for Blomkamp. A novel new disease that starts within the Prawn community; a brutal killing of an alien by soldiers sparking violent backlash… you see where this is all potentially headed…

District 10 is in development. No word on when it is aiming for release. Neil Blomkamp’s new sci-fi horror film called Demonic (or “Unlocked) is now looking for distributors.