Speaking with L.A. Times’ Hero Complex, director Neill Blomkamp has further discussed his future plans and next project which was previously revealed to tentatively begin in the summer of this year financed by Media Rights Capital.
“I know what I’m doing now,” Blomkamp confirms. “MRC is another finance group and they’re putting together the cash for my next film based on a treatment I wrote. I had the idea in my head for about a year. I wrote it within a month of finishing ‘District 9,’ so July or something I suppose, or May. It was May. So I wrote it in May and I sent it to them and they agreed to do it. So now I’m writing.”
Blomkamp previously described the next project as “sci-fi, horror, something around there” and was “pretty sure it’s set on another planet” and “way in the future.” He nows adds that the film will explore “many sociopolitical ideas that interest [him]” with the ideas “wrapped up inside something that is like a Hollywood action film.”
Having broken out with this summer’s success story “District 9,” the helmer surely would have had his pick with projects and studios. Blomkamp goes on to reveal though that the pressure on filmmakers in doing big budget tentpole and the lack of creative control led him to go continue down the indie path.
“I’ve been offered films – a lot of films, in fact – with seriously high budgets, and I’ve turned them all down. The reason is exactly what you said earlier: Once the budgets get bigger, you can’t do what you want as a director, unless you’re Peter Jackson or James Cameron. And even then, the pressure is still on the filmmaker. Even if the studio isn’t clamping down on you, all the pressure is on the director. And if you screw that up, the jeopardy situation is even worse.”
So what else can the director picture doing in the future other than sci-fi? “I can also see myself making a film like ‘Black Hawk Down’ and I could also totally do horror. Science fiction and horror, that right there is my optimum. I can see myself doing out-there comedy like Monty Python, absolutely, I would love that. Seriously.”
If you’re thinking about doing a comedy, probably best not to compare it to some of the kings of comedy but, with his writing style and visual sense, Blomkamp exploring sci-fi more and venturing into horror makes a lot of sense. Furthermore, it’s great to see someone willing to pass on big paychecks to see their vision on the screen. A lot of people could take a leaf out of his book, but then again a lot people could use Peter Jackson backing their first film.
Lastly, Blomkamp names “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Let The Right One In” as his favourite films of the year.
