It looks like our most talked about film is still going strong in theaters. The DVD and Blu-ray may be going on sale in December, but it has still managed to exceed expectations by breaking the $200 million barrier!
This weekend it was annnounced that the film, which was made for a $30m budget, had taken $115M in America and over $85M overseas (£6.75 of that figure is mine!). This means two things. First off, it’s made over 6 times what it cost, and now it also means that Sony is desperate to push a sequel out! Is this a good thing though?
Thankfully the director and producer duo of Blomkamp and Jackson have stated that the sequel may come “at some point”. Why is this a good thing? Well, at the moment it seems that they are still devising a new story line for a possible sequel and i’m sure that this powerhouse pair are happy to sit on their ideas until they have something they are happy with.
I think this is a good thing as it is fair to say that District 9 was a bit of a labour of love. The film was made on a very tight budget that was spent very well, with a great actor in Sharlto Copley and amazing special effects from Weta Workshop. With an even bigger budget the sequel could be amazing, but only if the story and script are just as tight.
So, whats the problem? Well, Sony is. It’s not their fault, they are a big company who need to make money, but in the past they have sacrificed quality over quantity and with District 9’s success and sequel potential they will want this out as soon as possible to capitalize on the positive buzz. Hopefully they will realise the qualities that made this film great and leave to Neill and Peter. I’m sure that when these two have finalized on a story and script, their schedules will magically clear.
As for the present, congratulations to everyone associated with the film for making it a success! So what do you think? Will you be able to wait for the sequel that the original team want to make, or do you just want your District 10 fix now? Leave your comments below or join the discussion at the MovieViral forum.
I’ll leave you with a reminder that there was a 7 year gap between Alien and Aliens as well as Terminator and T2: judgement day. I’m happy to wait.