I love District 9. I think it’s brilliant, and one of the best science fiction movies of the decade. I love every single thing about it.
I don’t want a prequel to it.
In general I don’t want a prequel to anything – it’s a lazy, boring way of telling a story – but I really don’t want a prequel to D9 because I got it all from the opening 20 minutes of the movie. I don’t need another film set in that world, and I don’t need a film that fills in D9‘s tiny gaps, answering minor questions like ‘How did the guns end up on the surface?’.
But Neill Blomkamp may be interested in one. Or he may be Oh Don Pianoing his butt off. Talking to the LA Times, Blomkamp says he doesn’t want to make a sequel to his film, but he would be intrigued by a prequel.
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. I’m open to it if the story works and there’s a reason to do it. And [Copley’s character] 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.
I’d much rather a sequel, and do it like Planet of the Apes– flip the script. Change the allegorical positions of all the factions, putting the prawns on top. Make the Nigerians freedom fighters. Have whites be collaborators. The permutations are endless and fascinating. A prequel? I don’t see it.
That said, Blomkamp is a damn smart guy. I recommend reading that whole interview, as his thoughts and insights into Hollywood, the star system and the omnipresence of publicity are smart as hell.