Man alive last week was a busy one on the movie front.
One day I was rushing off and checking out the new badass Karate Kid, then the next I was giggling it up over at The A-Team and interviewing the new Murdock – Sharlto Copley.
Well I couldn’t let Sharlto, star of District 9, off the phone without touching base on the future of that whole universe.
I think it was fairly obvious early on, given the critical and box office success of District 9, that a sequel was a must. And what excited me most about talking to Sharlto – a very polite, effervescent guy – was that it sounds like everyone’s eager to do it. It’s just a matter of timing. (More at Techland: Top Ten Spelling Bee Freakouts)
And that whole sequel vs. prequel debate that I’ve read in some parts? It’s looking like the whole thing could easily go either way.
Apparently the big deciding factor is schedules. Sharlto was all busy with A-Team and Neill Blomkamp was moving on to his next mystery project, which none of us really know anything about. But as soon as everyone gets the time, we should be expecting District 10 – or is it District 8 – quite soon.
Here’s the full transcript:
Before I let you go, there’s no way I can’t ask: What are the plans here for District 9 moving forward. We’re going to do this thing, right?
That’s a safe bet. There is definite interest. I know Neill is interested. I’m interested. From my point of view, it’s just that Neill is doing another film right now, and the ball’s really in Neill’s court. I know he wants to, that’s rather obvious. And I know he felt as if he was just scratching the surface with that first film…
So there’s plenty more to say, in moving the story forward?
Well sequel, or prequel – either way.
I thought I had read that he was leaning towards prequel – that there seemed to be more potential that way.
Well I think there was a comment that he had made, that that was his initial gut reaction, to go with a prequel. But at this point anything can really happen. He went straight into another film, and certainly has given it very little thought other than we know that we’re interested. But we all saw what happened: People loved the movie, and I think they would love to go back to it every bit as much as we would.
End of Transcript –
So I’m not 100 percent sure what to take away from that.
It sees like they might be leaning towards a prequel, and maybe there will be a hole in the schedule after Neill’s current mystery project that will allow them to move forward. But will audiences stick around that long? That’s the one thing I’m immediately worried about: Is there any way we’re getting another District 9 before 2012? I don’t want to wait that long!
How about you?
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