DISTRICT 9 Comic Con 2009 Panel

At the Comic Con 2009 panel for DISTRICT 9, Peter Jackson made his first Comic Con appearance ever.

But before getting into the movie, he gave us a few updates on his new project, THE HOBBIT:

– While WB has not greenlit the project yet, they are about 3-4 weeks away from giving them their first script.

– They haven’t gotten to stage that they can offer anyone a role yet. That will most likely happen in 2 months.

– They will be doing 2 movies, in order to explore all of the information about Middle Earth that J.R.R. Tolkien’s wrote in Lord of the Rings.

So that was the news for The Hobbit. But of course, this panel was about District 9, and to present it, Peter Jackson was joined by director Neill Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley. Here are a few highlights from the panel:

– The movie was very improvised and spontaneous. There was a storyline but no script, so it was hard to find actors who could improvise.

– The main character ended up being played by Neill Blomkamp’s friend from school in South Africa, Sharlto Copley, who hadn’t acted that much previous to this.

– District 9 is based on Neill Blomkamp’s short film “Alive in Joburg” , which was also produced by Sharlto Copley.

– When coming up with District 9, Neill Blomkamp was trying to create a sci fi movie and make it seem real.

– Peter Jackson revealed that watching Neill make his movie, made him want to make small budget movies again. He loves the freedom you get from it and he hopes to find a small budget horror movie that he could do.

– Neill Blomkamp’s inspiration for the aliens was a whole bunch of sci fi floating in his head. The aliens were insects because in the movie they are like an insect hive which has lost its queen and has no guided direction.

– As to the possibility of a Halo film. Unfortunately, the first time around, the movie kind of died in the middle of development. And now the film rights are back with Microsoft again. Even though Microsoft is looking at what to do with Halo, right now Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp are not involved with the movie at all.

During the panel, they also showed us an extended trailer of the movie, which was so freaking brilliant. It’s a movie you don’t want to miss.

District 9 will be released to theaters on August 14, 2009. Until then, check out more pictures from the District 9 Comic Con 2009 panel below.