Where to watch District 9 (2009)
It can also be rented or bought from Amazon and AppleTV.
When alien refugees are confined to a segregated settlement in Johannesburg, a corporate field agent overseeing their relocation is exposed to a mysterious substance that begins changing his body. Hunted by the organization he works for, he must seek shelter in the very community he once helped control.
Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, Elizabeth Mkandawie, John Sumner, William Allen Young, Nick Blake, Greg Melvill-Smith, Robert Hobbs, Vanessa Haywood, Morena Busa Sesatsa
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Trivia & production notes
- District 9 was Neill Blomkamp's directorial debut for a feature film, coming after he had directed only commercials and short films.
- The film was born from abandoned Halo video game adaptation plans when financing fell through; Peter Jackson and Blomkamp recycled props and items originally created for that project.
- District 9 expanded concepts from Blomkamp's earlier short film Alive in Joburg, including its documentary-style approach, alien designs, and themes of segregation in South Africa.
- Blomkamp deliberately scheduled filming during Johannesburg's winter months of June and July because the city resembled a nuclear wasteland during that season, which suited the film's bleak aesthetic.
- The production shot with nine digital Red One 4K cameras owned by Peter Jackson, but the post-production team's data processing capacity was overwhelmed when daily footage grew from 1.5 hours to 5 hours, requiring additional resources and eventually filling 120 terabytes of storage.
- Weta Workshop was originally tasked with designing the aliens, but the company was unavailable because it was busy working on Avatar, leading Blomkamp to hire the Vancouver-based Image Engine instead.
- The alien design intentionally balanced unsettling insect-like and crustacean features with humanoid characteristics to evoke initial disgust while allowing audiences to eventually empathize with the creatures.
- Blomkamp cited 1980s action-sci-fi films including Alien, Aliens, The Terminator, Terminator 2, Predator, and RoboCop as subconscious influences, aiming to capture a harsh 1980s feel rather than a glossy aesthetic.
- The production was filmed in Chiawelo, Soweto during the May 2008 South Africa riots, with actual xenophobic violence occurring in nearby townships during the shoot.
- The 2.5-kilometer mothership and drop ship were designed by Weta Digital, while The Embassy Visual Effects created the exo-suit and alien creatures called pets.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article District 9, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.
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