The first image from Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi thriller District 9 has been released.  It shows a character named Wikus (Sharlto Copley) who appears to be in the process of mutating from human to alien.

Sharlto Copley as Wikus in 'District 9'

If you don’t know much about District 9 then you’re not alone – the film is shrouded in secrecy.  What we do know is that the story behind District 9 is about a group of aliens who land in South Africa and who are forced to live in slavery in slum-like conditions under the oppressive Multi-National United (MNU) corporation.  Things begin to change when a government agent named Wikus gets exposed to alien biotechnology and begins to mutate, forcing him to flee into District 9 where he becomes a new ally of the alien refugees.

A small amount of footage from the film was aired at this years ShoWest which indicated the film is shot in a documentary style (similar to Cloverfield).  Whilst the footage didn’t give away a lot, many people came away singing praises about what they saw.

You can also gather a little more insight into what MNU is all about by interacting on the very cool MNU Local Alert System (viral website) here.

District 9 is based upon Neill Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Joburg which is very cool.  Watch it below:

District 9 will hit theaters:
14 August 2009 – USA
13 August 2009 – Australia

Image Source: Slashfilm

Sony Pictures Entertainment has launched three ‘microsites’ as part of its marketing campaign to promote the new Neill Blomkamp science fiction film, District 9.

The three sites are (click on an image to visit the site):

D-9

MNU Spreads Lies

Multi National United

I can’t tell you what exactly the storyline is behind District 9 as it is quite intelligently being kept secretive.   I guess it’s Sony’s plan to make us guess by decoding the cryptic information from across all of these sites.  As it stands, all we really know about the story is that it surrounds humans and aliens co-existing in a not-so-friendly manner.  At the center of the friction between the two races is a corporation, and given the sites above, there’s no prize for guessing who the corporation is.

Neill Blomkamp, who is known for his work on Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel and Smallville, has written and directed the new sci-fi film which stars William Allen  Young (Jagged Edge / Almost Dead), Robert Hobbs (To the Ends of the Earth / Bravo Two Zero) and Jason Cope (Doomsday).

District 9 will hit theaters on 14 August 2009.