Sony Pictures has come aboard to distribute District 9, the big-budget sci-fi thriller producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp are making while they wait for funding for their Halo movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio will handle the title in all English-language territories, including North America, as well as Russia, Italy, Korea and Portugal. The deal was inked this week at the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, Calif.
District 9 will mark Blomkamp’s the feature film debut. The award-winning commercial director caught Jacksons attention with his short films Tempbot, in which an office gets some temporary help from a humanoid robot, and Alive in Joburg, a faux documentary about space aliens living in the slums of Johannesburg. More recently, Blomkamp created televsion ads for Microsoft’s release of Halo 3.
Sony reportedly shelled out a handsome sum to pick up the rights from QED Int’l, which is bankrolling District via a credit facility with Comerica Bank and Aramid Entertainment Fund. The pic will most likely be released under the studio’s Screen Gems or Columbia Pictures. Production is slated to begin this spring in South Africa.
