Writer/director Neill Blomkamp has revealed that District 10 is based on a topic from American history. The original feature film titled District 9 was released in 2009. It went on to receive four Oscar nominations for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay, Best Achievement in Film Editing, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects. The science fiction story is set after an extraterrestrial race arrives on Earth. However, they are forced to live in a slum and are treated horrendously. After government agent Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) becomes aware of an alien's plan to leave the planet, he must choose between his bureaucratic ways and his morals.
After making District 9, Blomkamp went on to make more science fiction films, although they didn't receive a very positive critical reception. Over the course of the next few years, he released Elysium and Chappie. Most recently, he's been directing short films. Earlier this year, Blomkamp teased that a sequel to District 9 would be coming out. The details are light, but the pieces are starting to come together.
In an interview with IGN, Blomkamp talked about the status of the science fiction sequel. He explained that although the screenplay is still being written, progress is being made. Blomkamp mentioned how he wanted to make sure that a sequel made sense before making one. He said that a specific topic in American history will play a major part in District 10. See below for his full comment:
That script continues to be written. It's looking good. It took a decade to figure out, to come up with a reason why to make that film as opposed to just make a sequel. There was a topic in American history that the second I realized that that fit into the world of District 9, it felt like an awesome way to do a sequel. So yeah, it continues to be developed and it's getting a lot closer.
After 12 years at the time of writing, it has been a long time since audiences have been in the world of District 9. However, Blomkamp has kept up working behind the camera, even if primarily for short films. Now, he's working on a video game and also made a horror film during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic titled Demonic, which drops on August 20. With District 10 moving forward, things are going to get a whole lot busier for the filmmaker.
Some stories are able to pull audiences back into their universe, while others suffer from taking too long to make a sequel. Given the strong reception to District 9, it's likely that moviegoers will be curious to see what the sequel has to offer. However, the poor reception of his following films Elysium and Chappie may have diminished some of the hope that the sequel will be as good as the 2009 installment. However, District 9 included some powerful social commentary on topics including social segregation, so it'll be interesting to see what point of American history inspired him for District 10.
Source: IGN