See a video of producer Peter Jackson at Comic-Con talking about how his project to bring "Halo" to the screen morphed into the new sci-fi film "District 9" (opening August 14 throughout San Diego.) And look for my review and the Teen Critic reviews coming up.
Peter Jackson made his first live Comic-Con appearance (he's appeared on tape before) this past July and it was not for a film he was directing but rather one that he was producing. Just as Tim Burton (also appearing at last month's Con) is producing "9" for first time filmmaker Shane Acker, Jackson is producing the feature directing debut of South African-born Neill Blomkamp. In this video highlight from the "District 9" panel at Comic-Con, Jackson and Blomkamp talk about the origins of "District 9" and working together. The clips they showed wowed the audience and I can now assure you that those expectations are more than met by the film. Although it has a much smaller budget and marketing campaign than such other summer sci-fi films as "Terminator Salvation" and "Transformers 2," it has managed to create a buzz all of its own. As I left the preview screening last night, eager fans were already waiting in line for the midnight showing of the film -- proof that a good film can generate excitement even without trailers and commercials and product tie-in saturating the media marketplace. Kudos to Jackson for helping Blomkamp bring his vision to the screen and for the bargain price of $30 million.
