District 9 (2009)

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Neill Blomkamp Director

A government bureaucrat finds himself changed -- quite literally -- after an encounter with the aliens living in a slum outside Johannesburg in Neill Blomkamp's critically-acclaimed science fiction adventure.
Trivia:

Based off the short film "Alive in Joburg," which was also written and directed by Neill Blomkamp.

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Reference: The Fly

1 More Movie Reference
Quote: Wikus Van De Merwe

I think I crapped my pants.

11 More Quotes
Writers
Cast
Sharlto Copley Wikus Van De Merwe
Jason Cope Grey Bradnam - UKNR Chief Correspondent
Nathalie Boltt Sarah Livingstone - Sociologist
Sylvaine Strike Dr Katrina McKenzie
Elizabeth Mkandawie Interviewee
John Sumner Les Feldman - MIL Engineer
William Allen Young Dirk Michaels
Greg Melvill-Smith Interviewer
Nick Blake Francois Moraneu - CIV Engineer Team
Morena Busa Sesatsa Interviewee
See Full Credits

Plot

A derelict starship filled with over a million insectoid extraterrestrials comes quietly to rest over Johannesburg, South Africa in 1982 and its inhabitants are given refuge in a large government camp dubbed District 9. The camp quickly becomes a slum for the aliens, which people have now come to call "prawns", and now, twenty years after they arrived, the public is calling for the visitors to be relocated to a more permanent settlement away from the city. To accomplish this the South African government hires Multinational United (MNU), a brutal corporation only interested in unlocking the secret to using alien weapons technology. The man put in charge of the effort is Wikus van de Merwe, a young manager in MNU and son-in-law of its president. .
 
While Wikus and his team of soldiers hand out eviction notices the alien named Christopher and his son scrabble around in the trash heaps for a mysterious fluid they then distill and place in a canister. When Wikus issues their eviction notice and seizes the canister he is accidentally sprayed in the face with the chemical and begins to feel sick. Later on, after black fluid begins to ooze from his nose and his fingernails fall off, Wikus is taken to the hospital where he wakes up to discover his arm has mutated into an alien one and he's now capable of using prawn weaponry. When MNU executives decide to vivisect him for study Wikus fights back and escapes into District 9, now the most wanted man in Johannesburg.
 
Christopher agrees to help Wikus regain his humanity if he returns the favor by assisting him in retrieving the canister from MNU headquarters. The two lead a daring assault on the company's research labs and take the substance back to District 9 to reactivate the mothership's buried command module, but are shot down and captured by MNU security forces. As Wikus is being led from the camp, Nigerian warlord Obesandjo ambushes the convoy and takes him prisoner, hoping to gain Wikus' ability to use alien weaponry by eating his flesh. Christopher's son back in the command module activates a nearby suit of mechanized armor to save Wikus and an intense firefight ensues, ending finally when Christopher activates a tractor beam on the mothership and pulls him and the module up. The pair depart in the mothership leaving Wikus and all the other aliens behind.

5 AWARD NOMINATIONS

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General Information Edit
Name District 9
US Release Aug. 14, 2009
UK Release Sept. 4, 2009
AUS Release Aug. 13, 2009
Runtime 112
Language(s)
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English
Genre(s)
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Sci-Fi
Action
Drama
Thriller
Theme(s)
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alien
alternate historical
modern military
Rating R
Alias(es)
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  • In today's dollars
    Domestic $115,646,235
    Foreign +95,173,376
  • = total worldwide gross $210,819,611
  • - a reported budget of $30,000,000
  • = a 602.7% net profit of $180,819,611
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