Former Halo director's first feature trailer unspools

In 2006, Microsoft stunned the world by announcing that a virtual unknown would be directing the big-budget film adaptation of the Halo franchise. That unknown was Neil Blomkamp, a young South African filmmaker who had won awards for his series of futuristic commercials and shorts. Those included...

In 2006, Microsoft stunned the world by announcing that a virtual unknown would be directing the big-budget film adaptation of the Halo franchise. That unknown was Neil Blomkamp, a young South African filmmaker who had won awards for his series of futuristic commercials and shorts. Those included minithriller Yellow, the Robocop-esque Tetra Vaal, the Office-like satire Tempbot, and Alive in Joburg, an ambitious sci-fi drama about alien refugees occupying part of Johannesburg.

Despite the backing of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, Blomkamp was inexperienced enough to make studio executives reconsider the Halo film project, which remains in turnaround after being put on indefinite hold in 2006. Luckily, those intrigued by Blomkamp's Halo live-action shorts about Orbital Drop Shock Troops will soon get a chance to see his first feature film, District 9. The first trailer for the sci-fi drama, which is based on Alive in Joburg, hit the Web this week and is viewable in HD via Apple's Web site. Due out in US theaters on August 14, it is executive-produced by Jackson and (ironically) distributed by Sony Pictures.

124 Comments

  • bastian97

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 6:20 pm PT

    @colton yes it is supposed to be the start of the halo movie series but called district 9 i think.

  • coltonisking15

    Posted Jun 20, 2009 6:50 pm PT

    wait so is this a halo movie

  • Awhawk23

    Posted Jun 16, 2009 5:02 pm PT

    If anyone ever saw one of the old budweiser trailers with an alien there was one that looked kinda like that hoping 4 a halo movie

  • beymod

    Posted Jun 6, 2009 5:54 am PT

    thanks....
    http://www.beymod.com.tr

  • mr0806

    Posted May 28, 2009 4:46 pm PT

    it looks pretty cool...

  • GamerJedi29

    Posted May 27, 2009 12:58 pm PT

    yeah they need to stick to the story if they make a halo movie

  • TexasTurtle05

    Posted May 23, 2009 10:15 pm PT

    If they make a Halo movie it needs to stick to the story and details like the games, dont change anything!!!

  • CalibusTheCrab

    Posted May 19, 2009 8:00 am PT

    hoping* Then I'll take you seriously.

  • xspartinofwarx

    Posted May 17, 2009 9:29 am PT

    we are a elite squad of halo 3 players hopping to dominate a console near you xSPARTINofWARx (CAPTAIN) I mr snip3downI (SHARPSHOOTER) pandassasin72 (OVERALL-BADASS) TOS Nightmare17 (DEMO-LICIOUS) up-front we get up close and personal.
    http://up-front.co.nr/
    http://gamebattles.com/xbox360/halo3/team/upfrontmlg/

  • samanael

    Posted May 16, 2009 7:08 pm PT

    really goooooood.......

  • Fady117

    Posted May 7, 2009 5:03 am PT

    Whether Jackson or not, this movie better be big-budget and promising a real blast for spectators. Not to mention that they shouldn't involve too many boring or unnecessary characters....

  • Stryker521

    Posted May 6, 2009 3:10 pm PT

    That D-9 movie looks interesting...some very (obviously) human themes being played around with...with none other than the more than enough cliched African setting. It's a foreign film, and like some good works that the French and Germans make, don't dismiss this just because it's not an American big budget blockbuster.

  • mossongreens

    Posted May 6, 2009 5:59 am PT

    this is supposed to be like a documentary or like a news journalism piece...let's get that out of the way people. this could be groundbreaking. if your not going to give it a chance because the alien looks dumb in your opinion...that's lame lame lame...it doesn't have blockbuster written on it...it's a sci-fi movie...but it does have cult classic written all over it...

    ...go watch wolverine if you want cheesy lame ill-choreographed fight scenes with par acting and horrible plot development and special fx.

  • Alex_09

    Posted May 5, 2009 10:34 pm PT

    I really wouldn't care about a Halo movie. All of those characters bore me....

  • senorbusyman

    Posted May 5, 2009 9:18 am PT

    the HALO movie better be something that will "BLOW US AWAY"!

  • Shantmaster_K

    Posted May 4, 2009 9:33 pm PT

    i seen that video before. i think it looks awesome. i hope a halo movie is made. that would be sweet

  • Smoov_B

    Posted May 4, 2009 5:02 pm PT

    Wow, lot of hate in here. I think it looks pretty cool. I'm tired of all aliens looking the same so I like that this one is at least unique to some degree. I'm still surprised that Blomkamp wasn't able to generate enough interest with the Drop Shock short he did. That was looked great.

  • dussan2

    Posted May 4, 2009 12:31 pm PT

    Halo fanboys annoy me to no end. Reason number 1 why they Halo project failed? The director apparently didn't want to do a movie about Master Chief. He wanted to base it off of a squad and Master Chief would pop up every now and then. Reason for that is because Halo canon does not tell us what a Spartan looks like under the helmet, and what nationality Master Chief is. And it's next to impossible to feel anything for someone in a suit witha blast shield.

  • Barighm

    Posted May 4, 2009 12:23 pm PT

    Halo film will never be made unless Microsoft creates their own studio and funds the movie themselves. Nobody else wants to do the movie because Microsoft wants to make sure it's done right, with a good budget, and Hollywood doesn't want a "good" video-game movie. Why would you ever want your biggest competitor to rake in cash on your home turf? Ain't gonna happen. Can there be any other reason for why Uwe Boll is still allowed to make terrible movies when respected actors and directors fall off the face of the earth after creating a couple stinkers?

  • KontraDiction

    Posted May 4, 2009 11:09 am PT

    I didnt think it looked that bad. The only thing that was garbage was the way the alien looked.

    Lets be for real here. Everyone wants some big name director to jump on the "Halo" bandwagon! I rather have a unknown come along and blow my mind then a well known screw up come along and distory what Halo is all because of his "Vision"!

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