There hasn't been much movement on a Halo movie of late—not since G.I. Joe screenwriter Stuart Beattie was revealed to have written a spec script for the film a couple of years back. Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) was supposed to helm the project at one point, but those plans fell through due to its escalating budget. Since then though, the Halo franchise has more than proven its financial viability—Halo 3 sold over $170 million worth in copies within 24 hours of release—but now Blomkamp has no desire to return, even if granted the opportunity to do so. So where does that leave the Halo movie? Variety has a piece detailing the history of the Halo franchise, including the current status of the Halo movie. Frank O'Connor, the franchise's development director for Microsoft, offered a measured response: We're still interested in making an excellent 'Halo' movie. We've created an awful lot of documentation ...

Magnolia Pictures/Magnet have released the new movie poster for Gareth Edwards’ new low budget monster movie Monsters. Check it out now after the jump, along with the production notes for the film. Since screening the film at Cannes, we've been hyping the movie (read my mini review here). We called it Lost in Translation in a world infested by monsters.The movie trailer definitely tries to sell the movie as more of a sci-fi thriller and less of the character piece that it really is. Watch it now, embedded after the jump. Movie Poster: Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. We've posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget, and ...

Magnolia Pictures/Magnet have released the first movie trailer for Gareth Edwards' new low budget monster movie Monsters which takes a very District 9 approach to film marketing. Since screening the film at Cannes, we've been hyping the movie (read my mini review here). We called it Lost in Translation in a world infested by monsters.The movie trailer definitely tries to sell the movie as more of a sci-fi thriller and less of the character piece that it really is. Watch it now, embedded after the jump. Movie Trailer: Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. We've posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget, and we've even posted a video ...

The way that short films have been able to lead to feature deals with studios in the past year is rather stunning. The success of Neill Blomkamp, who went from the short Alive in Joburg to the smash success of District 9, helped pave the way for development deals for the filmmakers behind The Gift, Panic Attack and Pixels, among others. Now Ricardo de Montreuil, whose short The Raven hit the internet in April, reportedly has a deal at Universal, where he'll expand his short into a feature. Latino Review says that Mark Wahlberg is in talks to produce and star in the expanded version of The Raven, with Montreuil directing. Justin Marks, who has written a lot of scripts but counts Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li as his only produced feature credit, will write the screenplay. This is a step forward from where the project was not long ago -- ...

Magnolia Pictures/Magnet have released a UK Poster for Gareth Edwards' new low budget monster movie Monsters which takes a very District 9 approach to film marketing. Hit the jump to see the poster. Since screening the film at Cannes, we've been hyping the movie (read my mini review here). We called it Lost in Translation in a world infested by monsters. Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. We've posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget, and we've even posted a video showing you how Edwards produced the 250 high definition resolution effects shots by himself in in his bedroom for the 2008 one hour BBC drama Attila ...

Award-winning and Emmy-nominated visual effects artist and writer/director Gareth Edwards premiered his first film, Monsters, at SXSW and distribution was picked up within hours by Magnet Releasing (a division of Magnolia Pictures). In the vein of District 9, Monsters is...

Since screening the film at Cannes, we've been hyping Gareth Edwards' new low budget monster movie Monsters (read my mini review here). Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. We've posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget, and we've even posted a video showing you how Edwards produced the 250 high definition resolution effects shots by himself in in his bedroom for the 2008 one hour BBC drama Attila the Hun. But when are you going to get the chance to see Monsters on the big screen? Magnolia Pictures' genre arm Magnet have announced that the film will hit theaters in New York and Los Angeles on ...

We heard a lot of exciting names bandied about for directing The Hobbit. Guillermo Del Toro and Neill Blomkamp were both considered for the job and either one could've given us a unique and fascinating Hobbit. Well, Del Toro seems...

After the sad news that director Guillermo Del Toro had dropped off the project, and a short lived rumor that Neill Blomkamp might take his spot, it looks like Lord of the Rings fans can rejoice as both Heat Vision and Deadline report that Peter Jackson is now negotiating his deal to direct both installments of The Hobbit. As we write, Jackson is busy taking himself away from his other projects that were originally the reason that Jackson denied that he would end up directing the double feature. In addition, Jackson and his crew are making a big push to the financially plagued MGM to "loosen the purse strings" and get back to The Shire. As interesting as it would've been to see a new director take the journey to Middle-Earth, it's very comforting to know that a director who has already proven his skills and passion in adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's ...

Apologies are in order to everyone who got super excited about last weekend's rumor that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp may be lined up to direct The Hobbit after Guillermo Del Toro sadly dropped out of the project at the end of May. The always reliable Vulture got a hold of an insider from Blomkamp's agency who not only confirmed that Blomkamp is not directing the two-part adaptation, but no one from MGM/United Artists or Warner Bros. has even contacted him about directing the flick. Instead, Blomkamp is still busy working on another original sci-fi project called Elysium, whose plot is currently being kept under wraps. While this would've been incredible to see confirmed, with all the delays MGM's current financial situation is creating, I couldn't imagine a new director getting attached so quickly. Who knows when The Hobbit will actually get off the ground, and who will be sitting in ...

OK, first up, no great surprise that when Neill Blomkamp's representatives finally spoke up about the rumor that he would direct The Hobbit, their response was, "uh, no." At the end of last week a report from The One Ring, firmly characterized even there as rumor, suggested that Blomkamp was the choice to direct The Hobbit. Easy to see where that would come from, given his prior experience working with Peter Jackson on District 9. But Vulture talked to 'an insider' from Blomkamp's agency, WME, who said that he isn't directing and hasn't even been contacted. But the more interesting news to come out of Vulture's report is that the sci-fi film Blomkamp has talked about over the past year is called Elysium. A recap on details about that one after the break. Vulture's report that nixes the 'Blomkamp in the Shire' rumor says that he's working on Elysium, "an original sci-fi script ...

A report claims that Neill Blomkamp was not offered the director's chair on The Hobbit .

Insider at the ' District 9 ' helmer's agency claims he was never contacted about replacing Guillermo Del Toro, making the 'X-Men: The Last Stand' director closer to the project.

District 9 's Neill Blomkamp is the latest name linked to The Hobbit director's chair.

This is indeed only a rumor for now, but the more I think about it, the more I feel like it could actually be true. An article popped up on TheOneRing.net yesterday proposing the possibility that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp might be directing The Hobbit in place of Guillermo del Toro. First, don't forget that District 9 was a Peter Jackson production and Blomkamp has worked with him for years. In addition, TOR has been receiving tips and hints pointing towards Blomkamp, including a breakdown for the movie "which included who the director is: Neil Bloomkamp [sic]." Maybe we'll see a big announcement at Comic-Con? TOR writer "MrCere" says that they're "not reporting that Neill Blomkamp is the director of The Hobbit," however he presents some evidence that leads us to believe it's a strong possibility that he may be. One spy report "stated it as cold, hard, unsurprising fact." ...

Put this one down as a significant but believable rumor. Since Guillermo del Toro walked away from directing The Hobbit, there has been plenty of speculation about who might take his place. For obvious reasons, Peter Jackson's name keeps coming up, but there are a number of reasons that he is unlikely to do the job. David Yates, David Dobkin and Brett Ratner are all names that have come up, though none of those really thrilled the fan contingent. But if Jackson can't or won't do the movie, what about his most recent protege, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp? TheOneRing.net received a spy report that says that Blomkamp is the new director for The Hobbit, but hasn't been able to verify. The site credits the report with some truth, at least, because it contains other facts that it says have been verified. The story, in short, is that Jackson really isn't interested in ...

BREAKING: In a surprise move, Tory Metzger will leave her post as president of film production for Media Rights Capital when her contract expires at the end of the month. MRC co-CEOs Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu are starting an immediate search to replace her with one or two seasoned studio-level production executives to oversee a production slate that is going increase dramatically. That slate includes Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland followup 30 Minutes or Less, the Seth MacFarlane-directed comedy Ted, and the next scifi project from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. Right behind that is a Baz Luhrmann-directed musical, as well [...]

Sharlto Copley came out of nowhere last year, a newcomer actor who impressed the hell out of everyone with his performance in Neill Blomkamp's exceptional sci-fi flick, "District 9." It was quite a turnaround too, for him to jump from that to this weekend's big release, "The A-Team"-- he would have to have pretty much [...]

Click here to download TV listings for the week of May 30 - June 5 in PDF format This week's TV Movies Weekly TV Listings can also be downloaded here ILLEGAL ALIENS: Sharlto Copley, center, stars in director Neill Blomkamp's...

Since screening the film at Cannes, we've been hyping Gareth Edwards' new low budget monster movie Monsters. Hollywood is already going nuts over the filmmaker, who supposedly made the film for a fraction of a million dollars (maybe even as little as $15,000), and some are touting him as the next Neill Blomkamp. Yesterday we posted a featurette showing how director Gareth Edwards was able to achieve what he did with Monsters on such a low budget. Someone sent me a link to another video showcasing Gareth Edwards' directorial and visual effects work on the 2008 one hour BBC drama Attila the Hun. Not only did Edwards direct the film, but he produced the 250 high definition resolution effects shots by himself in in his bedroom. He finished the vfx in just four months, using After Effects and Photoshop, averaging two shots a day. The Guardian called the special "a revolution in ...

The best film I screened at the Cannes Film Festival this year was a sci-fi monster movie titled Monsters, which had originally premiered at SXSW. The film and director have been the talk of Hollywood ever since. Is he the next Neill Blomkamp? The movie is set six years after a NASA probe crashed over Central America, causing the quarantine of half of Mexico. The story follows a US journalist who agrees to escort a shaken tourist through "the infected zone" to the safety of the US border. I've described the film as being "like Lost in Translation, set in Mexico, but with gigantic alien monsters." It is also sure to draw comparisons to District 9, and shows shades of Jurassic Park. But the movie really isn't about big budget effects, or jump scares, or the usual independent horror cliches. Instead the movie focuses on the two characters at the center ...

In an interview with MTV News, District 9 star Sharlto Copley discussed the potential for a sequel to the successful Sci-Fi film. He mentioned that he had already discussed the idea with Neill Blomkamp who was also enthusiastic about the...

There has been some rumor talk about a sequel to Neill Blomkamp's District 9 -- District 10, as the film is being branded in advance -- but none of the recent chatter actually seemed to be on point. In fact, it isn't, says D9 star Sharlto Copley. He and Blomkamp want to do the sequel, or prequel as it may be, but it is still a couple of years off. Speaking to Empire, Copley says, Neil wants it and I want it. Neil's doing another film first. Then I think if everything goes according to plan we'll do the second film in about two years time. That story can go in so many different ways. There's a whole universe. I'm sure a lot of writers say that, but we actually have an entire universe. Interest remains in making a prequel, which conforms to what Blomkamp said not too long ago. Neil's actually very interested ...

I know I'm not the only one who's anxious to hear more about the prospect of a District 9 sequel or prequel or whatever, not only because I really loved the movie and want to see more, but also because I'm a huge fan of director Neill Blomkamp and want to see more from him. Last week, a rumor hit on MarketSaw claiming that a sequel, to be called District 10, would shoot this year, but that was obviously just not true at all (hence why we never mentioned it). Empire caught up with Wikus himself, actor Sharlto Copley, and got a good update out of him about what to truly expect regarding a sequel/prequel. Read on to find out what he said! "Neil wants it and I want it. Neil's doing another film first. Then I think if everything goes according to plan we'll do the second film in about ...

Ricardo de Montreuil's six minute sci-fi short film The Raven hit the web this week and has been making noise around Hollywood. The film tells the story of Chris Black, who "possesses a power that could lead to the destruction of the current regime, and they will stop at nothing to destroy him. The chase is on as Chris runs for his life in this sci-fi thriller set in an alternate and futuristic Los Angeles." The film was shot on the RED Camera, shot in downtown Los Angeles, and completed for only $5,000. Some people are even making comparisons to Neill Blomkamp's Alive in Joburg, and that is one of the film's problems -- it seems to borrow a lot from that short, the feature film it spawned - District 9, as well as Robocop, Minority Report and other sci-fi classics. It looks great, was made on the cheap, but it doesn't ...

We've heard before that Neill Blomkamp would, in theory, like to bring Sharlto Copley back for a follow-up to District 9. But that's probably not happening any time soon. But you can see Copley as Wikus van der Merwe once more, thanks to Wikus and Charlize, in which the District 9 character attempts to track down Charlize Theron to ask her about co-presenting an award with him at the South African Music Awards. The conceit here is that it was actually Wikus playing himself in District 9 -- he says he was 'discovered' by Blomkamp, for example. And this is very much in the vein of the first section of that film, where Wikus is bumbling and enthusiastic. He actually thinks he's an up and coming movie star. But that being the case, there are no mechs or mutations in this clip, sadly. But there are some laughs as Wikus more or less ...

One of the unlikely -- but nonetheless welcome -- Best Picture nominees which benefited from the expanded category size was director Neill Blomkamp's inventive sci-fi feature debut, "District 9." It's an odd film, a melting pot of genres set within a science fiction framework. The "aliens arrive on Earth" idea isn't exactly new, but Blomkamp's [...]

Looking for something to watch while waiting to see if James Cameron becomes the "King of the World" for a second time on Sunday? Cameron recently participated in the latest TED conference held in February and gave his own TED Talk focusing on filmmaking and science fiction, although he also talks a bit about Avatar, considering he spent the last 10 years of his life working on that movie. We've featured a few other TED Talk videos before: J.J. Abrams' "Mystery Box" presentation and Neill Blomkamp's "extraterrestrial" presentation, so I'm excited to feature another one that delves into some rather fascinating topics as well. Watch the complete James Cameron TED Talk recorded in February 2010: Did you know that James Cameron sat on the NASA Advisory Board? I didn't! It's a bit long, but if you're a fan of James Cameron at all, this is one video that you need to ...

I'm guessing most of you didn't even know District 9 had a co-writer? Indeed it did. In fact, Terri Tatchell is married to director Neill Blomkamp, so it was more than just a simple collaboration. This story is a bit old but I just found it today thanks to our friends at GeekTyrant. A few weeks back on, the sci-fi site io9 did an interview with Tatchell talking about the success of District 9 and what's next for her and Neill. Tatchell revealed that she's been working on a screenplay that's a feature-length adaptation of a short sci-fi / fantasy film called Terminus. The concept is just wacky, I don't know how she'll make it work, you gotta hear this! Here's an excerpt from the io9 interview with Tatchell talking about the status of the Terminus screenplay. "The film I'm working on now is an adaptation of a short film called Terminus. ...

Eye on the Oscars: The Writer: Scribes sought out originality in sci-fi tale -- Like most tyro screenwriters, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell ("District 9") took the writing of their first big film seriously. Maybe too seriously.

There's a reason why Weta Workshop is one of the best special effects companies in the world! Courtesy of SlashFilm we've discovered that Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop out of New Zealand is selling life-size replicas of the alien weapons from Neill Blomkamp's District 9. No, they aren't actually operable, but even if they were, you don't have any alien DNA so you couldn't fire them. "PLEASE NOTE: Unless your genetic makeup is part prawn, you cannot power up or fire this gun." They're also pretty damn expensive (since they are life-size) coming in at around $500 a piece. But damnit, these are freakin' awesome, I really want one! There are currently only two different weapons available: the Gas Projector and the Arc Generator (both sell for $494.71). They weigh about 12lbs. each and are 24" x 40" x 4" in size. Weta is only making 200 of them, so if you ...

Last November, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was chosen to be a part of TEDx in Vancouver. The director wanted to join the program but couldn't be there in person so he recorded a video (via SlashFilm) which is now online. He was asked in an interview once if he thought the aliens represented in District 9 were an accurate representation of what extraterrestrials are really like. His answer was "no" and from there he goes off on a talk about what real aliens would be like and if there is life on other planets (and why we haven't found it yet). It's an absolutely fascinating video presentation that I definitely suggest watching. Although Blomkamp didn't receive an Oscar nomination for directing, I was extremely happy to see District 9 receive nominations for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Visual Effects, and Film Editing. Blomkamp is obviously not only an incredible filmmaker, but ...

Geoff Boucher of the LA Times' Hero Complex has been running a fantastic interview series with District 9 writer/director Neill Blomkamp, the South African filmmaker who blew away audiences last summer with his mid-budget sci-fi alien movie. Thankfully it was successful enough to warrant a sequel, but of course the question is, do we really need a sequel? In his final interview piece, Boucher talks with Blomkamp about a sequel, a prequel, and other ideas for his future, including his next movie, which will be set in another city (but not in South Africa) 150 years from now and addresses "sociopolitical ideas that interest me." Read on! It's evident reading this interview that Blomkamp is extremely intelligent and also just a very inspirational filmmaker. For example, in regards to his view on why he makes movies, he says: "Sony has kind of pushed for awards and, really, if I feel like ...

Neill Blomkamp admits that he is interested in making a prequel to his sci-fi film District 9.

It's shaping up to be an alien invasion at the Oscars. To the surprise of absolutely no one, James Cameron's Na'vi-centric 3-D extravaganza Avatar, Neill Blomkamp's prawn...

Neill Blomkamp reveals that he is working on the script for his follow-up to District 9.

Just to clarify right out of the gate, the "year" Fast Company is referring to is 2009, but nonetheless, it's an award we're sure Jon is happy to have. 11 geeks were found worthy of the "Geek of the Year" award in '09, with the likes of Evan Williams and Biz Stone (Twitter), David S. Goyer (the creator of Flash Forward on ABC), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Neill Blomkamp (the writer of District 9 ) joining him. The justification for Jon making the cut?

"He came on board as the new chairman of Palm and brought about the Web OS and the Palm Pre, the start of a line of products that is the best hope for reintroducing the geek masses to Palm."

After speaking with him on our first-ever Engadget Show and falling head over heels in love with webOS , we can't help but agree. And yes, after last year's introduction at CES , it's all we can do to contain our excitement for this Thursday .

Palm's Jon Rubinstein named a 'Geek of the Year' originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye on the Oscars: Preview: 2009 films use far-flung sites to enhance stories -- International locations have played a role in the stories of countless Oscar-winning pics. This year's contenders were shot in environments as far-flung as a shantytown in South Africa for Neill Blomkamp's "District 9" and the sandblasted streets of Amman, Jordan, for Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker."

Isn't weird that even though a movie makes lots of money and is considered a huge success, no one wants to see a sequel. And yet movies that barely make any money somehow get sequels that no one wants (e.g. Ghost Rider)? Well, the good news is that we probably won't see a District 9 sequel for a few years. That's good because I don't want a sequel to be rushed into production. But it's also bad because I'd actually like to see them make District 10 at some point. Over on Deadline Hollywood, Nikki Finke has a new update saying, basically, that Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson won't come back unless (or until) they figure out a story. But those close to producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp say only it may happen "at some point" when the duo "figure out what the story is and organize their respective schedules". (Peter is ...

As we've known for at least a year, Paramount has been trying to develop another take on Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi classic Dune, originally attaching The Kingdom director Peter Berg. Since then, we've heard off and on from Berg, including this most recent update from September where he revealed that it would be a PG-13 "massive epic," which was a step in the right direction. Movie blog Pajiba is now reporting that Berg has left the project and "his Film 44 production company backed out." Now Paramount is scrambling to find a new director." According to them, District 9's Neill Blomkamp is one of only two alternatives. The first question is why this blog would be reporting on Dune. Well, apparently there was a rumor in the summer that Robert Pattinson (ugh) was being considered for one of the lead roles, and they confirmed in their update that this stemmed from ...

Breakout filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, writer-director of this summer’s blockbuster 'District 9,' has signed up for his next sci-fi project.

Media Rights Capital (MRC) has come on board for the next film by District 9 writer/director Neill Blomkamp, reports Variety .

Los Angeles: Bill Block set to produce untitled sci-fi pic -- Media Rights Capital has committed to the next film by "District 9" writer-director Neill Blomkamp. The untitled sci-fier will begin production by the middle of next year.

Looks like we won't be seeing Neill Blomkamp direct District 10 anytime soon, as he's directing another original sci-fi project next. The BFDealMemo blog reports that Media Rights Capital has committed funding for Blomkamp's next film, a currently untitled original sci-fi film that will begin production by mid-2010. MRC is giving Blomkamp creative freedom and a production commitment that isn't contingent on domestic distribution; he will also get an ownership stake in the finished product. However, Peter Jackson will not be back to produce this, but Blomkamp say that isn't of any major concern for him on his second outing. "MRC is letting me make the film I want to make and that is by far the most important thing here," Neill said to BFDealMemo. "The film will hopefully be commercial, but it is very much a singular film, that comes directly from me. District 9 was a bit different. I ...