For director Neill Blomkamp, “District 9” must feel like an eternity ago.
The 2009 sci-fi action film used a quasi-documentary style to tell a thrilling tale of a man fighting for survival against government-backed mercenaries while his body fused with alien DNA — even if, let’s be real, it was an extremely clunky allegory for Apartheid. The heaps of body horror and gritty special effects definitely helped, on top of a breakout performance from Sharlto Copley who conveyed a palpable sense of desperation. It was nominated for four Oscars and made loads of money: by the standards of the film industry, it was an unqualified success.
But it’s mostly been downhill for Blomkamp ever since. His movies have continued to make money, for the most part, but their reception has been worse and worse. He’s gone on to accrue so many unrealized projects that he has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to them. He also started a blockchain based game development studio, where he’s received backlash for allegedly not paying employees for months on end. Things just don’t seem to go his way.
Now, for a director desperate to make a name for himself again without the same resources he once had at his disposal, where else to turn to but embracing AI?
