An aliens-among-us story by a first time director has topped the American box office, raking in US$37 million this past weekend!
Helmed by 29-year-old South African born director, Niell Blomkamp, District 9 has no big name stars – in fact, the lead actor (Sharlto Copley) had never acted in a movie before – but that didn’t prevent the film from outgrossing G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra by a whopping USD 14.5 million! District 9 is no slouch in the ratings either, scoring a solid 88% at Rotten Tomatoes.
We South Africans have to wait a bit longer to watch Wikus Van De Merwe and “prawn” friend Christopher Johnson taking the fight to the seedy MNU corporation. District 9 releases officially in local theatres on August 28th, but word is that Joburg will see a premiere screening this Wednesday, August 19th, at the Zone in Rosebank – full details are available at SterKinekor. Canal Walk in Cape Town might be hosting a premiere too, but no details have surfaced as yet. We’ll keep you posted though.
BONUS: Vanity Fair had a chat with Sharlto Copley about working on District 9. Read the Q&A HERE.
2 replies on “Aliens Among Us: District 9 Soars to Box Office Glory!”
Part of the plot sounds, well familiar. An alien slave ship crashes in the desert. That’s Alien Nation, a movie and (later) TV show from about 20 years ago. But this has a huge twist from Alien Nation. The Newcomers are not assimilated, they are kept in slavery. They look less human. Great idea.
Thanks for the info. I’ll have to look out for Alien Nation at our video store. I’m really looking forward to watching D-9 but it’s still 8 days from release here in South Africa.