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Neill Blomkamp Starting Prep Work On His Next Film 'Chappie,' Will Shoot In Johannesburg

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • February 21, 2013 2:00 PM
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  • 1 Comment
News
As usual with Neill Blomkamp, details about anything he's working on tend to be scarce until he's good and ready and lift the curtain. His upcoming "Elysium," slated with a summer release date, is still mostly under wraps aside from a few stills, but he's not some Terrence Malick-esque tinkerer. In fact, he's had his followup "Chappie" in the works for a couple of years now, long planned to be his third feature. When we chatted with him at Comic-Con last year, he reiterated it was still on deck, and it seems things are moving forward.
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More: Chappie, Neill Blomkamp

First Look: Sharlto Copley As The Gnarly Looking Villain In Neill Blomkamp Dystopian Sci-Fi Film 'Elysium'

  • By Edward Davis
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  • December 24, 2012 12:37 PM
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  • 1 Comment
News
"The Joker was a mistaken reference," Sharlto Copley told Empire about his villian role in "District 9" director Neill Blomkamp's upcoming dystopian epic "Elysium." "I was really just saying that that was the last time I saw a villain that inspired me: somebody that set the bar. There’s no connection or likeness to The Joker in terms of the character. What I did with him — which I try to do with all my original characters — was draw from real life. I combined references from a very infamous South African military battalion called 32 Battalion, that fought in the Border Wars in South Africa, and a stereotype of character that you get in the south of Johannesburg, where the guys are a little bit more comfortable with violence!"
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More: Elysium, Neill Blomkamp, Sharlto Copley

Christopher Nolan Still Doesn't Like 3D; Neil Blomkamp Says 48fps Has An "Alien Quality" To It

  • By Charlie Schmidlin
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  • July 19, 2012 11:25 AM
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  • 8 Comments
News
With studios looking for more and more ways to razzle/dazzle audiences, and get a higher ticket price at the same time, directors are taking up the challenge. Guys like Peter Jackson and James Cameron are pushing things forward with “The Hobbit” due later this year in select cinemas in 48fps and “Avatar” breaking in the blockbuster 3D era. They both regard the technology as progress, but as two other prominent directors have recently demonstrated, there are still quite a few helmers devoted to a more classic style of cinema.
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More: Christopher Nolan, Neill Blomkamp

Exclusive: Neill Blomkamp Talks Politics Of 'Elysium,' "Nightmare" Of 'Halo' & Teases More 'AGM Heartland' On The Way

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • July 14, 2012 2:57 PM
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  • 1 Comment
News
Yesterday, Neill Blomkamp hit Hall H at Comic-Con with seven minutes of footage from his sophomore feature film effort, "Elysium." The "District 9" director was returning to San Diego as a bit of a hero, having unveiled his first feature at the convention to a rapturous reception and subsequent critical and box office success. But as fans know, Blomkamp nearly made his debut with the Peter Jackson-produced "Halo," an experience he has not minced words about, describing it earlier this year as "a clusterfuck from day one." But, sitting down to chat with our own Jeff Otto, he reveals: "I think 'Halo' was a complete blessing in disguise. I have no idea what would've happened to my career if I had done that."
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More: Neill Blomkamp, Halo, Elysium, AGM Heartland, Comic-Con

Neill Blomkamp, Matt Damon & Jodie Foster Impress With Dystopian, Pig Urine-Filled 'Elysium' At Comic-Con

  • By Jeff Otto
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  • July 14, 2012 7:50 AM
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  • 3 Comments
Features
Today Neill Blomkamp made his return to Comic-Con and Hall H after appearing in 2009 for the film that launched his career, “District 9.” “I actually feel like I belong out there amongst the darkness and the flashing lights where I can’t really see anyone’s faces,” Blomkamp tells the crowd. “I’m a fan.”
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More: Elysium, Matt Damon, Neill Blomkamp, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Comic-Con

Exclusive: Neill Blomkamp Says Sci-Fi Comedy 'Chappie' Is "Probably" Next, Has No Immediate Plans For 'District 9' Sequel

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • July 13, 2012 9:09 PM
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  • 5 Comments
News
Neill Blomkamp made one of the more most impressive directorial debuts in recent memory back in 2009 when "District 9" hit theaters; a firmly original, tonally dextrous science-fiction actioner that proved to be a serious sleeper hit, and caused many to compare him to the likes of James Cameron, or indeed his executive producer Peter Jackson.
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More: Neill Blomkamp, Elysium, Comic-Con, Interviews, Chappie

Official Plot Synopsis For Neill Blomkamp's 'Elysium' Reveals Another Sci-Fi Political Allegory

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • June 14, 2012 8:36 PM
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  • 5 Comments
News
In this day and age, when leaks from big-budget movies are par for the course, it's pretty amazing that, so far, Neill Blomkamp has managed to keep a tight lid on his top secret "Elysium." All that's really known is that it's set in the future, stars Matt Damon, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner, Jodie Foster, Alice Braga, Diego Luna and Wagner Moura, and it features the work of "Blade Runner" designer Syd Mead. But late last summer, word surfaced that the film was going to have a political angle to it—much in the way "District 9" bore more than few references to apartheid—and was "set in a near future fraught with Anglo­-Hispanic racial tensions." And it seems that's the case as tensions between two classes—though not necessary anglo-hispanic—will be key.
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More: Elysium, Neill Blomkamp

"It Was A Clusterfuck From Day One": 5 Things About Neill Blomkamp's Failed 'Halo' Movie

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • April 19, 2012 5:29 PM
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  • 4 Comments
News
There are few franchises in recent memory that were announced with as much excitement only to collapse as spectacularly as the proposed video game movie "Halo." Trumpeted with great fanfare in 2005, the expensive project was seen as the next big blockbuster, with the promise of a built-in, worldwide fanbase, and despite the cost, two major studios teamed up to make it happen. But as these things go, the ink was barely dry on the deal before things went south, development stalled, contracts tried to be renegotiated and eventually, the whole thing sputtered out in a rather ugly mess.
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More: Halo, Neill Blomkamp

Will Anglo-Hispanic Tensions Form Part Of The Thematic Background For Neill Blomkamp's 'Elysium'?

  • By Simon Dang
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  • August 1, 2011 2:45 AM
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  • 1 Comment
Even though Neill Blomkamp is filming his highly anticipated follow up to "District 9" in Vancouver as we speak, details on the project remain tightly wrapped with pretty much the only thing known about the story is the fact it'll revolve around “aliens and humans doing battle on Earth" and will be set 100 years in the future.
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More: Films, Actors, Neill Blomkamp, Elysium

As 'The Dark Tower' Crumbles, Here Are 10 Dead Projects In Search Of Resurrection

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • July 21, 2011 3:56 AM
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  • 3 Comments
One of the more ambitious projects in recent memory, "The Dark Tower," was canceled earlier this week by Universal Pictures. It's not a surprise, as the studio also recently put the kibosh on a $150 million-budgeted R-rated take on "At the Mountains of Madness" by Guillermo del Toro and Ron Howard, and Akiva Goldsman's multi-platform, multi-film Stephen King adaptation was arguably more risky and definitely much more expensive. We here at The Playlist root for movies to be good, but we mostly root for movies to be made, for a director to complete their vision and for it to have a chance to reach an audience and possibly become a part of the popular culture.
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More: Films, Feature, Christopher Nolan, Terry Gilliam, Coen Brothers, Neill Blomkamp, Spike Lee, Roman Polanski, Super Hero Films, The Dark Tower, Green Lantern, Robert Towne, Robert Smigel

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