Let me explain the title of this post a little bit. Apparently the studio and director Neill Blomkamp have been talking about the possibility of doing a sequel to “District 9”. And flat out I think this is a TERRIBLE idea. For now anyway.
Here’s the background for those of you who may be new to The Movie Blog. I was VERY critical of the news a few years back that Blomkamp was tapped to direct the Halo movie. Long story short I found it ludicrous that a person who had never directed a film… nay… never had any job on set of a real movie in his life… should be handed a HUGE tentpole project like Halo for his first time at bat. I insisted that a guy like him should be allowed to cut his teeth on a smaller film (or films) first. I thought it would be bad for Halo, and bad for Blomkamp to just jump into a HIGHLY anticipated $200 million dollar budget film like Halo to start. Eventually, and thankfully, the project was scrapped.
Blomkamp then obviously went on to do exactly what I thought he should do… a smaller film first… and the result was the $30 million budgeted District 9. Not quite the “cinematic classic” some make it out to be, but without doubt one of the best flicks of the summer boasting some of the best visual effects I’ve personally seen in a long time.
So if I think the film was one of the best of the summer… why would I be so against the idea of Blomkamp returning for a District 9 sequel? Simple… I think it would be bad for Blomkamp.
Look at Christopher Nolan for a moment. Yes, he had already been around for a bit when he did “Batman Begins”, but he believed it was important for him to walk away from Batman (easily the biggest success of his career) for a short time to do another project. Now that he was a major player in Hollywood circles, he didn’t want to confine his identity to Batman alone. And so, despite public pressure, Nolan walked away from Batman and did “The Prestige”, then returned for “The Dark Knight” later.
Personally, I think Halo falling through was the best thing in the world that could have happened for Blomkamp. Now I think he needs to resist the temptation to just jump back into his first “success”. Maybe look to “District 10” in a few years AFTER doing some other projects first. Diversify himself before just getting identified as that District 9, 10, 11 guy.
Don’t get me wrong, i wouldn’t complain if I heard we’d be getting a “District 10” next summer, but I think Blomkamp would be wise to walk away from it at this point. Maybe for good… maybe for just a while… but walk away nonetheless. Just a thought.
