Both critically and commercially, “District 9″ is one of the biggest hits of 2009.  Co-writer and director Neill Blomkamp made one of the best sci-fi films of the last decade and so naturally everyone is clamoring for a sequel.  But Blomkamp is proving that D-9 wasn’t just a stepping stone to something easier and more commercial because he’s doing another, original sci-fi movie.  With the news today that MRC will produce, Blomkamp hopes his new film will be commercial but says that “it is very much a singular film, (one) that comes directly from me.”  Speaking with Steve this past August, Blomkamp mentioned he had a sci-fi film he wanted to make before he went on to do “District 10″ (unofficial title) and I guess this is it.

Details about his new film are scare, but Variety reports that it will have a modest budget compared to other sci-fi films and that, according to Blomkamp, MRC is letting him make the film he wants to make.  That would be a wise decision because the creativity he displayed in “District 9″ with a budget of less than $30 million should be a sign that this man knows what he’s doing.  While I would love to see Blomkamp return to the world of “District 9″, I think he’s doing something even better by showing that his highest priority remains originality.  With such bold direction in both his artistic ability and career choices, I can’t help but wonder of some alternate universe where he directed the “Halo” movie that could never make the fanboys happy.

You can now buy your 4 day Comic-Con 2010 pass now for $100.  Sure, Comic-Con is still almost an year away, but I can guarantee you that it’s safer to buy your passes as early as you can before it’s too late.  I’ve never been to the mecca of all things geek, but I do know that it’s a pain to get a pass and that passes were already selling out 3 months in advance this year.  I only expect it to get more difficult this year as Comic-Con only gets more popular each year.  If you know you are already going for sure, then why not get your passes now?  If something comes up there is always Ebay and people who were not as smart as you and waited until the Con was six months away.

Hit the jump to get on getting passes and if you need convicing for some reason you can also read Matt’s reasons you should go.

We wrote about this a couple of days ago, but it seems that the rumors are now being confirmed.   This summer’s breakout star, Sharlto Copley, from “District 9″ is now in final negotiations to portray “Howling Mad” Murdock in director Joe Carnahan’s adaptation of the cult 1980’s television show, “The A-Team”.

Not only will Copley be joining the team but we also now have news that Jessica Biel will be joining the rouge squad as the former love of “Faceman” (Bradley Cooper).  Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?  You can get some more details when you hit the jump.

Peter (from Slashfilm) and I had a plan. Over the weekend we came up with a bunch of subjects we wanted to talk about and we had every intention of recording a video blog Monday afternoon. But…Disney and Marvel made us alter our plans. Due to their $4 Billion dollar merger, we spent Monday talking about what the merger meant and what cool stuff might happen as a result of it.

But now we’re back on point and it’s time for our new video blog that covers a lot of subjects. In part one of our two part conversation, Peter and I talk about whether or not director Neill Blomkamp should do a sequel to “Distrcit 9″ or make a new, original movie. We then debate if Pixar/Disney releasing the “Toy Story” double feature is a mistake, or if it’s still going to make a ton of money. Finally we talk about Spider-Man 4,5, and 6 and what we think Sony is going to do with the franchise. Take a look after the jump:

It looks like the exhausting press cycle director Quentin Tarantino has been on over the past two weeks (NPR to WWE) paid off in the end.  A $14.3 million Friday has morphed into a $37.6 million dollar opening weekend for Tarantino and his “Inglourious Basterds”.  It was a question mark to many how the World War II film would fare commercially - so that sound you hear?  It’s the collective sigh of all Weinstein Co. employees whose jobs are now a hell of a lot safer.

Few films in recent memory have generated as much pre-release speculation as Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”.  Not only did the director suffer a series of derisive early reviews for his seventh feature, but his film’s commercial prospects also became inextricably linked to the very survival of the studio that nurtured him - The Weinstein Company.  So how did it all play out?  Let’s put it this way: we’ll probably have Harvey Weinstein to kick around for many years to come.  “Inglourious Basterds” scored the highest opening ever for a Tarantino flick - an estimated $14.3 million from 3,165 dates - and now charts as the second-highest R-rated August debut (usurping last week’s “District 9″).  Check back tomorrow for more on “Basterds” and the week’s other box office happenings.

Would you believe Sharlto Copley had never acted in a movie before “District 9″? While he’s produced, directed and written short films in South Africa, he’d never thought about being an actor until director Neill Blomkamp chose him for the role of Wikus in “District 9″. And after watching the film, I cannot imagine anyone else doing a better job.

Anyway, I was recently able to speak with Sharlto and I decided to save the interview till a lot of you had seen the movie. After all, since Sharlto isn’t exactly a household name, I figured you’d be a lot more interested in watching him talk now that you’ve seen his work. During the interview he talks about making “District 9″, Comic-Con, working with the CGI, and a lot more. It’s a great interview with an actor that’s just beginning his career. Watch it after the jump:

It’s all good news for director Neill Blomkamp’s once-mysterious sci-fi movie “District 9″.  The film, produced by Peter Jackson, rounded out its first three days with a remarkable $37 million from 3,049 dates.  While that total certainly isn’t anywhere near the top weekends of the summer, when the film’s budget of $30 million is weighed along with the fact that most Americans had never heard of either Blomkamp or “District 9″ a couple of weeks ago, the term ‘remarkable’ may even be an understatement.

Amid rumblings of mid-August inventory-clearing, no fewer than five new titles hit the multiplexes this weekend.  But for most of us there were only two questions that Friday’s box-office results needed to answer: how high could Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9″ climb and how far would Stephen Sommers’ “G.I. Joe” fall?  As for the former, the Peter Jackson-produced sci-fi flick parlayed its great word of mouth into a first place finish with over $14 million from 3,049 locations.  “Joe” was not so lucky.  Last week’s top seed fell a big 68% on Friday to third place behind the maudlin posturing of Eric Bana in “The Time Traveler’s Wife”.   Check back tomorrow for full coverage of the rest of this weekend’s new releases.

The filmmakers and marketing team of “District 9″ have gone to great lengths to keep the plot of the film obscured in ads and trailers for the film.  You know it involves aliens.  You know it involves a district in Johannesburg, South Africa.  At most, you know the aliens are stuck on Earth and want to go home.

There’s only one more thing you should know: “District 9″ is one of the best films of the year and to read further in this review without seeing the film would only spoil an experience where you can be one of the first in the door to see a picture that will rely on word of mouth to succeed.  It’s best to go in cold and I can’t figure out a way to write this review without giving away so much of this film.  Instead, I encourage you to come back to this review after you’ve seen “District 9″ and see how my thoughts on the film matched up with your own.

“District 9″ is one of those films…the less you know the better. So let me say to everyone reading this, if you’d like to see a great sci-fi movie, something that’s new, original, and fresh, go see “District 9″ this weekend. Don’t ask people what it’s about. Don’t go reading the reviews. Just buy a ticket and see it. I promise you’ll love the movie and you’ll be so happy you didn’t know anything beforehand. That’s how I saw it and it was amazing.

Of course not everyone feels this way. Some people don’t care what they find out in advance and they actually want to learn as much as they can before they see a movie. So while I’d love to post this exclusive interview I did with director Neill Blomkamp after “District 9″ had opened, I realize the reason he did press was to get people into the theater this weekend. So after the jump is a great conversation with Neill and he explains why he got into making movies, the marketing of “District 9″, making the film, the style, what will be on the DVD/Blu-ray, would he go back to “Halo” if he was asked, Comic-Con, and a lot more. Take a look:

If you’re the type of person always complaining that Hollywood never makes anything original and all we ever get are remakes or reboots, you’re going to love director Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9″. That’s because his debut feature is a sci-fi film that’s not only great, but completely original! The film takes place on Earth…but it imagines a world where Aliens have not only arrived, they’re a part of our daily lives. Perhaps you’ve seen the viral bus ads or posters that say humans only.

Since Sony asked me to keep plot points and spoilers to a minimum (and the less you know the better), I’m going to let the clips and featurette I was provided do the talking. They’re all after the jump. I definitely suggest checking them out, especially if you haven’t yet heard of “District 9″.

Thursday night at Comic-Con was insane. For some reason, all the studios decided to throw massive parties and hold insanely cool stuff on the same night. I was invited to about 7 things that would normally be a fantastic night, but due to time and schedule, I could only do a fraction of what I was offered.  So what ended up winning out? Some guy named Peter Jackson.

So if you’re a fan of his work, after the jump you can read some updates on “The Hobbit”, the “Lord of the Rings” Blu-rays, “District 9″, and “The Lovely Bones”.

After the draining events of Thursday (the bloody slap-fest between “Twilight” fans and all the other nerds will surely be exhausting to all), Friday is a moderate reprieve in terms of the Movies/TV arena.  Oh, there are still massive events happening, but basically you can just sit down in Hall H and enjoy the proceedings rather than making “Sophie’s Choice”-level decisions about which line to stand in (unless you’re a Joss Whedon fan; then you’re screwed).

Panel highlights from Day 2 of Comic-Con include the thankfully-early-in-the-day Warner Bros. (which will feature “Where The Wild Things Are”, Sherlock Holmes”, “Jonah Hex”, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “The Box”, and “The Book of Eli”),  the Disney-Pixar Animation (the “Toy Story” trilogy, “Princess and the Frog”, “Ponyo”, and “Prep & Landing”), “9″, “Legion”, “District 9″, and an in-depth conversation between Peter Jackson and James Cameron.

However, should you choose to venture forth, away from the comfort of Hall H (where all those panels are), you can swim in the waters of television with panels for “The Prisoner”, “The Big Bang Theory”, “Dollhouse”, TV Guide’s Sci-Fi Hot List, and a Q&A with Joss Whedon.

Hit the jump for the full schedule and to see what events I’ve highlighted because that’s everywhere I want to be.  Now excuse me while I fetch my time-turner.  Click here for Thursday.

Yahoo! Movies has just debuted the new trailer for “District 9″ and boy is it disappointing.  What should be a film that captures your attention with fierce independence and an intriguing premise (a camp of alien prisoners here on Earth) instead is making itself to be “Transformers”, right down to the abrasive metal bass to punctuate cuts between giant robots.  Ugh.

While we anxiously await the new trailer for the Neill Blomkamp-directed, Peter Jackson-produced “District 9″, Yahoo! Movies has just thrown up a new poster for the flick.  I really want this flick to be a sleeper hit (provided it’s good; I think it certainly looks good and I dig the premise) and I think the marketing has done just about all it can to pique consumer curiosity in the flick.  I think the big question is whether or not folks will be too fatigued for this kind of flick by the time August rolls around.  I’m hoping their not and I also hope to report back a good word when Blomkamp and Jackson show off some of the film at this year’s Comic-Con.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  “District 9″ hits theatres on August 14th.