Peter Jackson's DISTRICT 9: New TV spot!

TriStar Pictures has unleashed a new extended TV spot and two brand new spots for the highly-anticipated horror film, District 9, produced by Peter Jackson.

If you haven't already heard, District 9 will be showing at San Diego Comic-Con International on Thursday this week, so expect to hear some early buzz coming from that. Peter Jackson, who produced this, will also be at Comic-Con in support of the movie. Lucky you if you were able to snag a tix to the sneak preview! If you get the opportunity, ask Peter about the latest Hobbit casting rumours (wink, wink).

Tagline: You are not welcome here!

It's really not a coincidence that a movie from a South African director, District 9, has aliens being treated like second-class citizens. In a new interview, Peter Jackson explains that yes, the movie really is all about apartheid.

The NZ Herald has an interview with Jackson, and the article also explains a bit more of this movie's plot, which revolves around a multinational corporation, MNU, charged with policing the aliens while trying to find out their technological secrets. When an MNU agent is accidentally exposed to a mysterious alien substance, he finds himself a hunted man. An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions in Johannesburg, South Africa suddenly find a "kindred spirit" in the government agent from MNU.

District 9 is both written and directed by first-timer Neill Blomkamp, a South African filmmaker who previously directed the awesome Halo: Arms Race shorts. The screenplay was co-written by Blomkamp and writing partner Terri Tatchell. This project is based on Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg.

Shot documentary style, District 9 breaks down responses to the presence of space aliens to the level of the streets. The information always seems imperfect, distorted by fear and other agendas. In the new TV trailer we get further glimpses of the near-panicked atmosphere that arises in the absence of any real knowledge of what's going on.

The aliens have arrived, but people don't know what to expect of them. A government representative says they will not be able to go home. The aliens are herded into the mysterious District 9, where the police conduct raids, unprepared for what they find. And as one alien gets hauled away, a man insists, "I did not know they were doing this to you guys." Most ominous of all is the comment that "nobody ever knew what this place was."

In the absence of any reliable information, people's reactions say a lot more about them than they do about the aliens. This is highlighted further in a couple of viral interviews that popped up recently. Not knowing what exactly the aliens eat leads to disturbing rumors that they are eating missing pets (perhaps even people) or subsisting on government handouts, all of which fuels public animosity. Overall, the movie looks to be treading pretty close to the old Pogo line: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

District 9 is set for release on August 14.

TV Spot #1


District 9
TV Spot #2


MNU Protest