District 9#Reception

In 1982, an enormous extraterrestrial spaceship arrives and hovers over the South African city of Johannesburg. Inside, an investigation team finds over a million malnourished insect-like aliens, and the South African government relocates them to a camp called District 9. Over the years, District 9 becomes a slum, and locals come to view the aliens{{emdash}}derogatorily called "Prawns"{{emdash}}as filthy, violent animals who bleed resources from humans.

Following unrest between the aliens and locals, the government hires Multinational United (MNU), a large defense contractor, to relocate the aliens to a new camp outside the city. Piet Smit, an MNU executive, appoints his son-in-law and MNU bureaucrat, Wikus van de Merwe, to lead the relocation. Meanwhile, three aliens named Christopher Johnson, his young son CJ, and his friend Paul search a District 9 garbage dump for Prawn technology; Christopher has spent the last 20 years synthesizing fuel from their contents. They finally fill an entire container in Paul's shack as the relocation begins, but when Wikus comes to serve Paul a notice, he finds the hidden container and accidentally sprays some fuel into his face. Koobus Venter, a cruel MNU mercenary, kills Paul.

Wikus begins mutating into a Prawn, starting with his left arm that was injured after the exposure. He is taken to an underground MNU lab, where researchers discover his hybrid DNA grants Wikus the ability to operate Prawn weaponry, which is biologically restricted from humans. Seeing the potential for profitable weapons research, Smit orders Wikus' body to be harvested for genetic material. Wikus, however, overpowers the lab personnel and escapes. While Venter's forces hunt him, a fake news story is broadcast claiming Wikus is a wanted fugitive, who has contracted a contagious disease from copulating with aliens.

Wikus takes refuge in District 9, finding Christopher and the spaceship's command module dropship concealed underneath his shack. Christopher explains that the confiscated fuel is needed to reactivate the dropship, which can then dock with the mothership. This would allow Christopher to rescue his people and return home, and cure Wikus with the equipment onboard. Encouraged by a phone call from his wife, Tania, Wikus steals powerful alien weapons from Obesandjo, a Nigerian crime lord who believes eating Wikus' alien arm will grant him alien abilities.

Wikus and Christopher attack MNU and reach the underground lab, where Christopher is horrified by the brutal experiments MNU has performed on his people. After seeing what MNU has done to his own kind, Christopher's priorities change. Christopher decides that he needs to get his people off of Earth immediately, and as a result, it will take more time for him to cure Wikus' condition. Enraged, Wikus knocks Christopher unconscious and attempts to fly the module to the mothership, but Venter has it shot down. Venter captures Wikus and Christopher, but Obesandjo's gang ambushes them and abduct Wikus.

CJ, who remained hidden in the dropship, remotely activates the mothership and a large robotic alien battle suit in Obesandjo's base. The suit guns down the Nigerians; Wikus enters the suit and rescues Christopher from the mercenaries. Heading towards the dropship, the two come under heavy fire; Wikus decides to stay behind and fend off the mercenaries, buying time for Christopher to escape, who promises to return in three years and cure Wikus. After all of the other mercenaries are killed, Venter finally cripples the suit, but several Prawns kill and dismember him before he can execute Wikus. Christopher makes it into the dropship with CJ, and the dropship is levitated via a tractor beam back into the mothership, which finally leaves Earth.

Wikus disappears, MNU's experiments are exposed to the public, and the aliens are moved to a new camp named District 10. Tania finds a handcrafted metal flower on her doorstep, giving her hope that Wikus is still alive. Wikus, now fully transformed into a Prawn, is shown in a junkyard crafting more flowers for his wife.

{{Cast listing|

• Sharlto Copley as Wikus van de Merwe, a mild-mannered, shy, bumbling, awkward bureaucrat at the MNU Department of Alien Affairs, who becomes infected with an alien fluid, slowly turning him into one of the "prawns". This was the first time acting professionally in a feature film for Copley, a friend of director Blomkamp.{{Cite web |last=Swietek |first=Frank |title=Interviews: Neill Blomkamp and Sharlto Copley on "District 9" |url=http://www.oneguysopinion.com/InterviewsResults.php?ID=451 |date=7 August 2009 |website=One Guy's Opinion |access-date=11 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914050308/http://www.oneguysopinion.com/InterviewsResults.php?ID=451 |archive-date=14 September 2009}}
• Jason Cope as Christopher Johnson, a District 9 prawn who assists Wikus in fighting MNU.
• Cope also performed the role of Grey Bradnam, the UKNR Chief Correspondent and all the speaking aliens, as well as for the cameraman Trent{{Cite web |url=http://io9.com/5341120/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-district-9 |title=5 Things You Didn't Know About District 9 |date=19 August 2009 |access-date=21 November 2014 |work=IO9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129033624/http://io9.com/5341120/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-district-9 |archive-date=29 November 2014}}
• David James as Colonel Koobus Venter, an aggressive, sadistic, and xenophobic PMC mercenary-soldier sent to capture Wikus. He is shown as taking pleasure in killing the aliens and responding brutally to anyone who opposes him.
• Vanessa Haywood as Tania Smit-van de Merwe, Wikus's wife.
• Mandla Gaduka as Fundiswa Mhlanga, Wikus's assistant and trainee during the eviction
• Eugene Wanangwa Khumbanyiwa as Obesandjo, a paralyzed psychopathic Nigerian gang leader who believes that eating alien body parts will enable him to operate their weapons
• Louis Minnaar as Piet Smit, managing director of MNU South Africa and Wikus's father-in-law
• Kenneth Nkosi as Thomas, an MNU security guard and good friend of Wikus
• William Allen Young as Dirk Michaels, the CEO of MNU
• Nathalie Boltt as Sarah Livingstone, a sociologist at Kempton Park University
• Sylvaine Strike as Katrina McKenzie, a doctor from the Department of Social Assistance
• John Sumner as Les Feldman, a MIL engineer
• Nick Blake as Francois Moraneu, a member of the CIV Engineer Team
• Jed Brophy as James Hope, an officer with the SAPS Alien Crimes Unit
• Vittorio Leonardi as Michael Bloemstein, MNU Department of Alien Civil Affairs
• Johan van Schoor as Nicolaas van de Merwe, Wikus's father
• Marian Hooman as Sandra van de Merwe, Wikus's mother
• Jonathan Taylor as the Doctor
• Stella Steenkamp as Phyllis Sinderson, MNU Alien Relations
• Tim Gordon as Clive Henderson, an entomologist at WLG University
• Nick Boraine as Lieutenant Weldon, Colonel Venter's right-hand man
• Robert Hobbs as Ross Pienaar, an MNU mercenary
• Trevor Coppola as MNU Mercenary
• Morne Erasmus as MNU Medic

}}

Like Alive in Joburg, the short film on which the feature film is based, the setting of District 9 is inspired by historical events during the apartheid era, particularly alluding to District Six, an inner-city residential area in Cape Town, declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966, with 60,000 people forcibly removed to Cape Flats, {{Convert|25|km|abbr=in}} away.{{cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1916009,00.html |title='District 9' Review: The Summer's Coolest Fantasy Film |magazine=Time |date=13 August 2009 |access-date=25 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816090634/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1916009,00.html |archive-date=16 August 2009}} The film also refers to contemporary evictions and forced removals to suburban ghettos in post-apartheid South Africa, as well as the resistance of its residents.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=1237&catID=9 |title=The real 'District 9' – South Africa's shack dwellers |magazine=Guardian Weekly |date=28 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118165406/http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial |archive-date=18 November 2007}}{{Cite web |last=de Waal |first=Shaun |url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-28-loving-the-aliens |title=Loving the Aliens |newspaper=Mail & Guardian |date=28 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830174836/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-28-loving-the-aliens |archive-date=30 August 2009}} This includes the high-profile attempted forced removal of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town to temporary relocation areas in Delft, plus evictions in the shack settlement Chiawelo, where the film was actually shot. Blikkiesdorp, a temporary relocation area in Cape Town, has also been compared with the District 9 camp, earning a front-page spread in the Daily Voice."Blikkiesdorp housing disaster has become Cape Flats' own...District 9", The Daily Voice, 3 October 2009.{{Cite web |url=http://antieviction.org.za/2009/10/05/un-affiliated-ngo-asks-the-city-to-reconsider-symphony-ways-eviction-to-blikkiesdorp-which-will-be-decided-in-court-on-wednesday/ |title=UN affiliated NGO asks the City to reconsider Symphony Way's eviction to Blikkiesdorp which will be decided in Court on Wednesday |website=Anti-Eviction Campaign |date=5 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121091511/http://antieviction.org.za/2009/10/05/un-affiliated-ngo-asks-the-city-to-reconsider-symphony-ways-eviction-to-blikkiesdorp-which-will-be-decided-in-court-on-wednesday/ |archive-date=21 November 2009}}

Dr. Shohini Chauduri wrote that District 9 even echoes apartheid in its title, as it is reminiscent "of District 6 in Cape Town, declared a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act". She also discusses how the wide shots used in District 9 strongly emphasize the idea of exclusion under apartheid. The separation of people and "prawns" into human and non-human zones marks South Africa's social divisions.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/661999/mod_resource/content/1/Chaudhuri%2C%20Uninvited%20visitors.pdf |first=Shohini |last=Chaudhuri |year=2014 |title=Cinema of the Dark Side: Atrocity and the Ethics of Film Spectatorship |chapter=4. Uninvited Visitors: Immigration, Detention and Deportation in Science Fiction |pages=135–143 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-74869-461-7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218210844/https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/661999/mod_resource/content/1/Chaudhuri%2C%20Uninvited%20visitors.pdf |archive-date=18 February 2018 |via=Queen Mary University of London}}

The film emphasizes the irony of Wikus and the impact of his experiences on his personality, which shows him becoming more humane as he becomes less biologically human. The film uses his story to pose the question of humanity as the "prawn" characters in the film are shown to be kinder to Wikus than the actual humans are as he undergoes his transformation. The film also features the portrayal of Nigerian Arms dealers, provoking thought on conflict between marginalized communities.{{Cite web |url=http://movies.msn.com/oscars/geek-oscars/?icid=MOVIES1>1=MOVIES1&mpc=2 |title=If Geeks Ran the Oscars |access-date=16 February 2010 |work=MSN Movies |first=Don |last=Kaye |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224174605/http://movies.msn.com/oscars/geek-oscars/?icid=MOVIES1>1=MOVIES1&mpc=2 |archive-date=24 December 2011}} Chris Mikesell from the University of Hawaii newspaper Ka Leo writes that "Substitute 'black,' 'Asian,' 'Mexican,' 'illegal,' 'Jew,' 'white,' or any number of different labels for the word 'prawn' in this film and you will hear the hidden truth behind the dialogue".{{Cite web |url=http://www.knphotographics.com/wp-kaleo/2009/08/26/features/district-9-reveals-human-inhumanity.html |title=District 9 reveals human inhumanity |last=Mikesell |first=Chris |date=26 August 2009 |website=Ka Leo |access-date=6 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306005355/http://www.knphotographics.com/wp-kaleo/2009/08/26/features/district-9-reveals-human-inhumanity.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2020}}

Themes of racism and xenophobia are shown in the form of speciesism. Used to describe the aliens, the word "prawn" is a reference to the Parktown prawn, a king cricket species considered a pest in South Africa.{{Cite web |url=http://www.highveld.co.za/thelounge/gallery/event.asp?id=565 |title=Interview with Neill Blomkamp on the Highveld Stereo 94.7 radio station |date=19 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830194354/http://www.highveld.co.za/thelounge/gallery/event.asp?id=565 |archive-date=30 August 2009}}{{cite book |last1=Sermon |first1=Sarah |title=Close Encounters of the Invasive Kind: Imperial History in Selected British Novels of Alien-Encounter Science Fiction After World War II |date=30 September 2013 |publisher=LIT Verlag |location=Germany |isbn=978-3643903914 |page=66 |edition=1st}} Copley has said that the theme is not intended to be the main focus of the work, but can work at a subconscious level even if it is not noticed. The racism in the film is portrayed on an institutional level, as despite the brutality towards the aliens by MNU exposed to the public they are still relocated as originally planned.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/08/xenophobia-racism-drive-alien-relocation-in-district-9/ |title=Xenophobia, Racism Drive Alien Relocation in District 9 |date=12 August 2009 |access-date=30 August 2009 |magazine=Wired |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830210737/http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/08/xenophobia-racism-drive-alien-relocation-in-district-9/ |archive-date=30 August 2009}}

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel wrote that "The result is an action film about xenophobia, in which all races of humans are united in their dislike and mistrust of an insect-like species".{{Cite web |url=http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/53074407.html |title='District 9' social theme isn't so alien |last=Dudek |first=Duane |date=13 August 2009 |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |access-date=6 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723064150/http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/53074407.html |archive-date=23 July 2010}}

Another underlying theme in District 9 is states' reliance on multinational corporations (whose accountability is unclear and whose interests are not necessarily congruent with democratic principles) as a form of government-funded enforcement. As MNU represents the type of corporation which partners with governments, the negative portrayal of MNU in the film depicts the dangers of outsourcing militaries and bureaucracies to private contractors.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/352.1 |title=Hold the Prawns |work=SACSIS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922201454/http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/352.1 |archive-date=22 September 2009 |access-date=18 September 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/343.1 |title=District 9, Ugly Marvel |work=SACSIS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922222034/http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/343.1 |archive-date=22 September 2009 |access-date=18 September 2009}}

Producer Peter Jackson planned to produce a film adaptation based on the Halo video game franchise with first-time director Neill Blomkamp. Due to a lack of financing, the Halo adaptation was placed on hold. Jackson and Blomkamp discussed pursuing alternative projects and eventually chose to produce and direct, respectively, District 9 featuring props and items originally made for the Halo film.{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-complete-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history/ |title=The Complete, Untold History of Halo |last=Haske |first=Steve |date=30 May 2017 |website=Waypoint |language=en |access-date=20 March 2019 |archive-date=15 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315011247/https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/xwqjg3/the-complete-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history |url-status=live}} Blomkamp had previously directed commercials and short films, but District 9 was his first feature film. The director co-wrote the script with his wife, Terri Tatchell, and chose to film in South Africa, where he was born.{{Cite magazine |last=Fleming |first=Michael |url=https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/peter-jackson-gears-up-for-district-2-1117975244/ |title=Peter Jackson gears up for 'District' |magazine=Variety |date=1 November 2007 |access-date=13 February 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073338/http://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/peter-jackson-gears-up-for-district-2-1117975244/ |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Leotta |first=A. |title=Peter Jackson |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |series=The Bloomsbury Companions to Contemporary Filmmakers |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-62356-096-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gua2CgAAQBAJ |access-date=16 February 2018 |pages=126–29 |archive-date=21 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121031749/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gua2CgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}

In District 9, Tatchell and Blomkamp returned to the world explored in his short film Alive in Joburg, choosing characters, moments and concepts that they found interesting including the documentary-style filmmaking, staged interviews, alien designs, alien technology/mecha suits, and the parallels to racial conflict and segregation in South Africa, and fleshing out these elements for the feature film.

QED International financed the negative cost. After the 2007 American Film Market, QED partnered with Sony's TriStar Pictures for distribution in English-language territories, Korea, Italy, Russia and Portugal.{{Cite magazine |last=Frater |first=Patrick |url=https://variety.com/2007/film/asia/sony-to-release-jackson-s-district-1117975365/ |title=Sony to release Jackson's 'District' |magazine=Variety |date=4 November 2007 |access-date=30 August 2009}}{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=John J Jr. |last2=Gillen |first2=Anne Marie |title=The Producer's Business Handbook: The Roadmap for the Balanced Film Producer |date=3 November 2010 |publisher=Focal Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0240814636 |page=56}}

The film was shot on location in Chiawelo, Soweto, during a time of violent unrest in Alexandra (Gauteng) and other South African townships involving clashes between native South Africans and Africans born in other countries.{{Cite news |first=Dave |last=Itzkoff |title=A Young Director Brings a Spaceship and a Metaphor in for a Landing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/movies/06district.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=5 August 2009 |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425071554/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/movies/06district.html |archive-date=25 April 2012}} The location that portrays District 9 is itself a real impoverished neighbourhood from which people were being forcibly relocated to government-subsidised housing. Several scenes were shot at the Ponte building.{{cite web |last=Blair |first=Ian |title=I, Robot |url=http://www.hdvideopro.com/film-and-tv/feature-films/i-robot/page-4 |website=HD Video Pro |access-date=8 August 2015 |date=10 March 2015 |page=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713044920/http://www.hdvideopro.com/film-and-tv/feature-films/i-robot/page-4 |archive-date=13 July 2015}}

Filming for District 9 took place during the winter in Johannesburg. According to director Neill Blomkamp, during the winter season, Johannesburg "actually looks like Chernobyl", a "nuclear apocalyptic wasteland". Blomkamp wanted to capture the deserted, bleak atmosphere and environment, so he and the crew had to film during the months of June through July. The film took a total of 60 days of shooting. Filming in December raised another issue in that there was much more rain. Due to the rain, there was a lot of greenery to work with, which Blomkamp did not want. Blomkamp had to cut some of the vegetation in the scenery to portray the setting as desolate and dark.

The film features many weapons and vehicles produced by the South African arms industry, including the R5 and Vektor CR-21 assault rifles, Denel NTW-20 20 mm anti-materiel rifle, Milkor BXP submachine gun, Casspir armoured personnel carrier, Ratel infantry fighting vehicle, Rooikat armoured fighting vehicle, Atlas Oryx helicopter and militarized Toyota Hilux "technical" pickup truck.{{cite web |last=Rule |first=Andrew |title=District 9 is one long sales pitch for South Africa's arms industry |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/20029/district-9-one-long-sales-pitch-south-africa%E2%80%99s-arms-industry |work=The Week with First Post |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202013821/http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/20029/district-9-one-long-sales-pitch-south-africa%E2%80%99s-arms-industry |archive-date=2 December 2014}}{{cite web |title=District 9, Movie, 2009 |url=http://www.imcdb.org/movie.php?id=1136608 |work=Internet Movie Cars Database |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619165745/http://www.imcdb.org/movie.php?id=1136608 |archive-date=19 June 2013}}

Blomkamp said no single film influenced District 9, but cited the 1980s "hardcore sci-fi/action" films such as Alien, Aliens, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Predator and RoboCop as subconscious influences. The director said, "I don't know whether the film has that feeling or not for the audience, but I wanted it to have that harsh 1980s kind of vibe—I didn't want it to feel glossy and slick."

Because of the amount of hand-held shooting required for the film, the producers and crew decided to shoot using the digital Red One 4K camera. Cinematographer Trent Opaloch used nine digital Red Ones owned by Peter Jackson for primary filming.{{Cite magazine |last=Caranicas |first=Peter |title='District' lenser braces for invasion |url=https://variety.com/2009/digital/news/district-lenser-braces-for-invasion-1118007288/ |date=14 August 2009 |magazine=Variety |access-date=7 September 2009}} According to HD Magazine, District 9 was shot on RED One cameras using build 15, Cooke S4 primes and Angenieux zooms. The documentary-style and CCTV-style cam footage was shot on the Sony EX1/EX3 XDCAM-HD. Additionally, the post-production team was warned that the most RED Camera footage they could handle a day was about an hour and a half. When that got to five hours a day additional resources were brought in, and 120 terabytes of data was filled.{{Cite web |url=http://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2009/11/1/attack-of-the-terabytes.html |title=Attack Of The Terabytes |date=1 November 2009 |website=HD Magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709011335/http://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2009/11/1/attack-of-the-terabytes.html |archive-date=9 July 2011}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2024}}

District 9 is essentially an expanded version of director Neill Blomkamp's 2005 short film Alive in Joburg. It narrates the conflict between aliens and local residents in Johannesburg (referred to as Joburg). Sharlto Copley, who starred in Alive in Joburg, also became the lead actor in District 9.

During the same period, Peter Jackson was planning to produce a film adaptation of the Xbox video game Halo and had chosen Neill Blomkamp as the director. However, due to the interests of major corporations,{{who|date=March 2025}} the project was indefinitely shelved. Believing in Blomkamp's talent, Peter Jackson decided to fund a new project, investing $30 million dollars for Blomkamp to direct a film of his own choosing. This led to the creation of District 9.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2024}}

The alien settlement depicted in the film was actually shot in an African slum, lending a gritty realism to the setting. Except for the main characters' dwelling and the alien protagonist Christopher's hut, which were temporarily constructed, all the slum shacks were real locations. The depiction of aliens dismembering wild beasts and their fondness for cat food draws a parallel to the desperate living conditions in slums, where inhabitants often rely on carrion or cat food for sustenance.

The idea of aliens eating cat food was inspired by a crew member who used cat food as bait for shrimp during the film's production. Additionally, the narrative of the aliens' relocation in the film mirrors a real event: the demolition of a Johannesburg slum and the subsequent forced relocation of its residents to a government-built settlement area.

This approach in the movie not only adds a layer of authenticity but also serves as a powerful metaphor for the socio-economic issues faced by marginalized communities.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The aliens in District 9 were designed by Weta Workshop, and the design was executed by Image Engine.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Blomkamp wanted the aliens to maintain both humane and barbaric features in the design of the creatures. According to Terri Tatchell, the director's writing partner, "They are not appealing, they are not cute, and they don't tug at our heartstrings. He went for a scary, hard, warrior-looking alien, which is much more of a challenge."{{Cite web |title=District 9: the most disgusting aliens in film |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6133598/District-9-the-most-disgusting-aliens-in-film.html |access-date=16 September 2021 |website=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 September 2009 |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916120226/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6133598/District-9-the-most-disgusting-aliens-in-film.html |url-status=live}} The look of the alien, with its exoskeleton-crustacean hybrid and crab-like shells, was meant to initially evoke a sense of disgust from viewers but as the story progresses, the audience was meant to sympathize with these creatures who had such human-like emotions and characteristics. Blomkamp established criteria for the design of the aliens. He wanted the species to be insect-like but also bipedal. The director wanted the audience to relate to the aliens and said of the restriction on the creature design, "Unfortunately, they had to be human-esque because our psychology doesn't allow us to really empathize with something unless it has a face and an anthropomorphic shape. Like if you see something that's four-legged, you think it's a dog; that's just how we're wired ... If you make a film about an alien force, which is the oppressor or aggressor, and you don't want to empathize with them, you can go to town. So creatively that's what I wanted to do but story-wise, I just couldn't."

Blomkamp originally sought to have Weta Digital design the creatures, but the company was busy with effects for Avatar. The director then decided to choose a Vancouver-based effects company because he anticipated making films there in the future and because British Columbia offered a tax credit. Blomkamp met with Image Engine and considered them "a bit of a gamble" since the company had not pursued a project as large as a feature film.{{Cite news |last=Desowitz |first=Bill |url=http://www.vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=4032 |title=Neill Blomkamp Talks District 9 |work=VFX World |date=14 August 2009 |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820182016/http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=4032 |archive-date=20 August 2009}} Aside from the aliens appearing on the operating table in the medical lab, all of them were created using CGI visual effects.{{cite book |last1=Alfio |first1=Leotta |title=Peter Jackson |date=17 December 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=New York, USA |isbn=978-1-62356-948-8 |page=128 |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/peter-jackson-9781623569488/ |access-date=18 February 2018 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524124119/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/peter-jackson-9781623569488/ |url-status=live}}

Weta Digital designed the 2{{frac|1|2}}-kilometer (1½ mile) diameter mothership[http://www.digital.cinefex.com/nxtbooks/cinefex/119/index.php?startid=31 Cinefex] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929072436/http://www.digital.cinefex.com/nxtbooks/cinefex/119/index.php?startid=31 |date=29 September 2013}} pp.119-131 and the drop ship, while the exo-suit and the little pets were designed by The Embassy Visual Effects. Zoic Studios performed overflow 2D work. On-set live special effects were created by MXFX.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mxfx.co.za/features.html |title='District 9' Pyro Sequences |website=MXFX Physical Special Effects |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301113540/http://www.mxfx.co.za/features.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 March 2012}} Some of the software used for the visual effects were Autodesk Softimage.{{cite web |url=http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=5231 |title=Embassy on 'District 9' |website=CG Society |date=22 August 2009 |access-date=18 July 2011 |archive-date=11 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111144736/http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=5231 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|District 9 (soundtrack)}}

The music for District 9 was scored by Canadian composer Clinton Shorter, who spent three weeks preparing for the film. Director Neill Blomkamp wanted a "raw and dark" score, but one that maintained its South African roots. This was a challenge for Shorter, who found much of the South African music he worked with to be optimistic and joyful. Unable to get the African drums to sound dark and heavy, Shorter used a combination of taiko drums and synthesized instruments for the desired effects, with the core African elements of the score conveyed in the vocals and smaller percussion.{{Cite web |last=Hoover |first=Tom |title=Interviews: Clinton Shorter – The Music of District 9 |url=http://scorenotes.com/interviews.html |year=2009 |website=Score Notes |access-date=8 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909061811/http://scorenotes.com/interviews.html |archive-date=9 September 2009}} Both the score and soundtrack feature music and vocals from Kwaito artists.

District 9 held its world premiere in 23 July 2009 at the Reading Gaslamp 15 at San Diego Comic-Con, with Copley, Blomkamp and Jackson in attendance.{{cite magazine |last1=White |first1=James |title=Comic-Con 09: First Reaction: District 9 |date=24 July 2009 |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/comic-con-09-first-reaction-district-9/ |magazine=Games Radar |access-date=25 September 2023}}{{cite web |author=Darkangel66a |title=District 9 Comic Con Screening Introduction |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXZg9tbyZ4c |website=YouTube |date=14 September 2009 |access-date=25 September 2023}} It was released by TriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009.

Sony Pictures launched a "Humans Only" marketing campaign to promote District 9. Sony's marketing team designed its promotional material to emulate the segregational billboards that appear throughout the film.{{Cite magazine |last=Oldham |first=Stuart |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/news/interview-neill-blomkamp-1118007279/ |title=Interview: Neill Blomkamp |magazine=Variety |date=14 August 2009 |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821083921/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007279.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2564 |archive-date=21 August 2009}} Billboards, banners, posters, and stickers were thus designed with the theme in mind, and the material was spread across public places such as bus stops in various cities, including "humans only" signs in certain locations and providing toll-free numbers to report "non-human" activity.{{Cite news |last=Billington |first=Alex |url=http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/08/14/for-humans-only-a-look-back-at-district-9s-success-story/ |title=For Humans Only: A Look Back at District 9's Success Story |work=FirstShowing.net |date=14 August 2009 |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819135155/http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/08/14/for-humans-only-a-look-back-at-district-9s-success-story/ |archive-date=19 August 2009}} This marketing strategy was designed to provoke reactions in its target audience (namely, sci-fi fans and people concerned with discrimination), hence the use of obviously fake segregational propaganda.{{cite book |last1=Kerrigan |first1=Finola |title=Film Marketing |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-74704-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsEtDwAAQBAJ&q=district+9&pg=PT10 |access-date=18 April 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121031749/https://books.google.com/books?id=rsEtDwAAQBAJ&q=district+9&pg=PT10 |url-status=live}}

According to Dwight Caines, Sony's president of digital marketing, an estimated 33,000 phone calls were made to the toll-free numbers during a two-week period with 2,500 of them leaving voicemails with reports of alien sightings.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jun-19-et-district19-story.html |title=Alien' Bus-Stop Ads Create A Stir |last=Lee |first=Chris |date=19 June 2009 |work=Los Angeles Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031085139/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/19/entertainment/et-district19 |archive-date=31 October 2016}} Promotional material was also presented at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, advertising the website D-9.com,{{Cite web |url=http://d-9.com/ |title=D-9.com |publisher=Sony Pictures |access-date=7 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725090044/http://www.d-9.com// |archive-date=25 July 2009}} which had an application presented by the fictional Multi-National United (MNU). The website had a local alert system for Johannesburg (the film's setting), news feeds, behavior recommendations, and rules and regulations. Other viral websites for the film were also launched, including an MNU website with a countdown timer for the film's release,{{Cite web |url=http://www.multinationalunited.com/ |title=Multi-National United |publisher=Sony Pictures |access-date=7 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907074518/http://www.multinationalunited.com/ |archive-date=7 September 2009}} an anti-MNU blog run by fictional alien character Christopher Johnson,{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnuspreadslies.com/ |title=MNU Spreads Lies |publisher=Sony Pictures |access-date=7 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908212831/http://www.mnuspreadslies.com/ |archive-date=8 September 2009}} and an MNU-sponsored educational website.{{Cite web |url=http://mathsfromouterspace.com/ |title=Maths from Outer Space: An MNU Sponsored Initiative |publisher=Sony Pictures |access-date=7 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907235434/http://www.mathsfromouterspace.com/ |archive-date=7 September 2009}}{{Cite news |last=Billington |first=Alex |url=http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/07/30/next-big-viral-neill-blomkamps-district-9-for-humans-only/ |title=Next Big Viral: Neill Blomkamp's District 9 – For Humans Only |work=FirstShowing.net |date=30 July 2008 |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903185009/http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/07/30/next-big-viral-neill-blomkamps-district-9-for-humans-only/ |archive-date=3 September 2009}} An online game for District 9 has also been made where players can choose to be a human or an alien. Humans are MNU agents on patrol trying to arrest or kill aliens. Aliens try to avoid capture from MNU agents whilst searching for alien canisters.{{Cite web |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=56856 |title=New District 9 Online Game, Trailer Coming! |date=3 July 2009 |website=Comingsoon.net |access-date=3 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705124146/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=56856 |archive-date=5 July 2009}} This digital approach to marketing follows a rising trend among digital natives who develop marketing trends and techniques which are appropriate to the digital age, and is cost-efficient due to its reliance on social media and communications. This breaking down and circumvention of existing marketing structures follows postmodernist theory in cinema.{{cite book |editor-last1=Hill |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Gibson |editor-first2=Pamela Church |others=Consultant eds. Richard Dyer, E. Ann Kaplan & Paul Willemen |title=The Oxford Guide to Film Studies |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-871124-7 |pages=96–105 |edition=Repr. [d. Ausg.] 1998. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwiKQgAACAAJ |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=21 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121031749/https://books.google.com/books?id=JwiKQgAACAAJ |url-status=live}}

WETA released in July 2010 Christopher Johnson and Son as sculptures.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/38455/wetas-first-district-9-figure-revealed-christopher-johnson-and-son |title=Weta's First District 9 Figure Revealed: Christopher Johnson and Son |first=Debi |last=Moore |date=10 July 2010 |website=DreadCentral |access-date=10 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727190611/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/38455/wetas-first-district-9-figure-revealed-christopher-johnson-and-son |archive-date=27 July 2010}}

According to the American Humane Association, the film displays an unauthorized "no animals were harmed" end credit, which is a registered trademark of the group.{{Cite web |url=http://www.humanehollywood.org/index.php/end-credits/unauthorized-end-credits |title=Unauthorized End Credits |website=Humane Hollywood |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115120818/http://www.humanehollywood.org/index.php/end-credits/unauthorized-end-credits |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 November 2015}}

The Blu-ray Disc and region 1 code widescreen edition of District 9 as well as the 2-disc special-edition version on DVD was released on 22 December 2009 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc includes the documentary "The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log" and the special features "Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus", "Innovation: Acting and Improvisation", "Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9", and "Alien Generation: Visual Effects".{{Cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34090/district-9-blu-ray-and-dvd-art-hovers-over-us |title=District 9 Blu-ray and DVD Art Hovers Over Us |website=DreadCentral |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405081545/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34090/district-9-blu-ray-and-dvd-art-hovers-over-us |archive-date=5 April 2011}}

The demo for the video game God of War III featured in the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo is also included with the Blu-ray release of District 9 playable on the Sony PlayStation 3.{{Cite web |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/district-9-forged-together-with-god-of-war-iii/ |title=District 9 Forged Together With God of War III |last=Caiazzo |first=Anthony |date=28 October 2009 |website=Sony Computer Entertainment |access-date=28 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015043809/http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/28/district-9-forged-together-with-god-of-war-iii/ |archive-date=15 October 2012}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34281/district-9-blu-ray-include-god-war-iii-demo |title=District 9 Blu-ray to Include God of War III Demo |last=Barton |first=Steve |date=30 October 2009 |website=DreadCentral |access-date=30 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019021102/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34281/district-9-blu-ray-include-god-war-iii-demo |archive-date=19 October 2012}}

District 9 was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on 13 October 2020.{{Cite web |title=District 9 - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Review |url=https://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/85984/district94kultrahdbluray.html |access-date=27 July 2020 |website=High Def Digest |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727160333/https://ultrahd.highdefdigest.com/85984/district94kultrahdbluray.html |url-status=live}}

District 9 grossed US$115.6 million from the United States and Canada, with a worldwide total of $210,819,611, against a production budget of US$30 million.

It opened in 3,048 theatres in Canada and the United States on 14 August 2009, and the film ranked first at the weekend box office with an opening gross of US$37.4 million. Among comparable science fiction films in the past, its opening attendance was slightly less than the 2008 film Cloverfield and the 1997 film Starship Troopers. The audience demographic for District 9 was 64 percent male and 57 percent people 25 years or older.{{Cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2610&p=.htm |title=Weekend Report: Humans Welcome District 9 |last=Gray |first=Brandon |date=16 August 2009 |work=Box Office Mojo |access-date=17 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818223908/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2610&p=.htm |archive-date=18 August 2009}} The film stood out as a summer film that generated strong business despite little-known casting.{{Cite magazine |last=McClintock |first=Pamela |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/box-office/district-9-invades-top-of-box-office-1118007321/ |title='District 9' invades top of box office |magazine=Variety |date=16 August 2009 |access-date=30 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821031343/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007321.html?categoryid=1082&cs=1 |archive-date=21 August 2009}} Its opening success was attributed to the studio's unusual marketing campaign. In the film's second weekend, it dropped 49% in revenue while competing against the opening film Inglourious Basterds for the male audience, as Sony Pictures attributed the "good hold" to District 9{{'}}s strong playability.{{Cite magazine |last=McClintock |first=Pamela |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/box-office/tarantino-s-basterds-storms-box-office-1118007604/ |title=Tarantino's 'Basterds' storms box office |magazine=Variety |date=23 August 2009 |access-date=30 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830013744/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007604.html?categoryid=1082&cs=1 |archive-date=30 August 2009}}

The film enjoyed similar success in the UK with an opening gross of £2,288,378 showing at 447 cinemas.{{cite web |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/uk-box-office-charts/a176629/district-9-claims-uk-box-office-no1/ |title='District 9' claims UK box office No.1 |work=DigitalSpy.com |last=Fletcher |first=Alex |date=9 September 2009 |access-date=1 December 2010}}

Rotten Tomatoes gives District 9 an approval rating of 90% based on 314 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The website's consensus states, "Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching, District 9 has action, imagination, and all the elements of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic."{{Cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/ |title=District 9 (2009) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=25 March 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804080946/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/ |archive-date=4 August 2009}} On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 81 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".{{Cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/district9/ |title=District 9 |work=Metacritic |access-date=25 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821095359/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/district9/ |archive-date=21 August 2009}} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |access-date=18 August 2021 |website=Cinemascore.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102130540/https://www.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=live}}

Sara Vilkomerson of The New York Observer wrote, "District 9 is the most exciting science fiction movie to come along in ages; definitely the most thrilling film of the summer; and quite possibly the best film I've seen all year."{{Cite web |url=http://www.observer.com/2009/movies/district-9-blew-my-mind |title=District 9 Blew My Mind! |first=Sara |last=Vilkomerson |access-date=12 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815143806/http://www.observer.com/2009/movies/district-9-blew-my-mind |archive-date=15 August 2009 |work=The New York Observer}} Christy Lemire from the Associated Press was impressed by the plot and thematic content, claiming that "District 9 has the aesthetic trappings of science fiction but it's really more of a character drama, an examination of how a man responds when he's forced to confront his identity during extraordinary circumstances."{{Cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/08/12/entertainment/e082032D23.DTL |title=Review: Dramatic twists in store in 'District 9' |first=Christy |last=Lemire |access-date=12 August 2009 |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817014336/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2009%2F08%2F12%2Fentertainment%2Fe082032D23.DTL |archive-date=17 August 2009}} Entertainment Weekly{{'}}s Lisa Schwarzbaum described it as "...{{nbsp}}madly original, cheekily political, [and] altogether exciting..."{{Cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2009/08/21/district-9-2/ |title=Movie Review: District 9 |first=Lisa |last=Schwarzbaum |access-date=12 August 2009 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815201404/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20297361,00.html |archive-date=15 August 2009}}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and praised it for "giving us aliens to remind us not everyone who comes in a spaceship needs to be angelic, octopod or stainless steel", but complained that "the third act is disappointing, involving standard shoot-out action. No attempt is made to resolve the situation, and if that's a happy ending, I've seen happier. Despite its creativity, the film remains space opera and avoids the higher realms of science-fiction."{{Cite news |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/district-9-2009 |title=Throw another prawn on the barbie |first=Roger |last=Ebert |access-date=12 August 2009 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=12 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815001037/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20090812%2FREVIEWS%2F908129987 |archive-date=15 August 2009}} Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend felt the film was unique in interpretation and execution, but considered it to be "a knockoff" of the 1988 film Alien Nation.{{cite web |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Too-Close-To-Call-10-Ways-District-9-Is-An-Alien-Nation-Knockoff-14310.html |title=Too Close To Call: 10 Ways District 9 Is An Alien Nation Knockoff |first=Josh |last=Tyler |work=CinemaBlend.com |date=10 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528151941/http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Too-Close-To-Call-10-Ways-District-9-Is-An-Alien-Nation-Knockoff-14310.html |archive-date=28 May 2010}}

IGN listed District 9 at No. 24 on a list of the Top 25 Sci-Fi Films of All Time.{{Cite web |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/677/677739p1.html |title=District 9 |work=IGN |access-date=17 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204000706/http://movies.ign.com/articles/677/677739p1.html |archive-date=4 December 2010}}

Nigeria's Information Minister Dora Akunyili asked movie cinemas around the country to either ban the film or edit out specific references to the country because of the film's negative depiction of the Nigerian characters as criminals and cannibals. Letters of complaint were sent to the producer and distributor of the film demanding an apology. She also said the gang leader Obesandjo is almost identical in spelling and pronunciation to the surname of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.{{cite news |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-af-nigeria-district-9-091909-2009sep19-story.html |title=Nigerian officials: "District 9" not welcome here |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=19 September 2009 |access-date=19 February 2018 |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=20 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033253/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-af-nigeria-district-9-091909-2009sep19-story.html |url-status=live}} The film was later banned in Nigeria; the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board was asked to prevent cinemas from showing the film and also to confiscate it.{{Cite web |title=Govt bans showing of District 9 film in Nigeria |url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/25/govt-bans-showing-of-district-9-film-in-nigeria/ |website=Vanguard |date=25 September 2009 |access-date=25 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001070536/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/25/govt-bans-showing-of-district-9-film-in-nigeria/ |archive-date=1 October 2009}}

Hakeem Kae-Kazim, a Nigerian-born British actor, also criticised the portrayal of Nigerians in the film,{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/02/district-9-labelled-xenophobic-nigerians |title=District 9 labelled xenophobic by Nigerians |last=Smith |first=David |date=2 September 2009 |work=The Guardian |access-date=6 September 2010 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907121910/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/02/district-9-labelled-xenophobic-nigerians |archive-date=7 September 2013}} telling the Beeld (an Afrikaans-language daily newspaper): "Africa is a beautiful place and the problems it does have can not be shown by such a small group of people."{{Quote without source|date=February 2014|reason=I could not find an article with Hakeem Kae-Kazim in using the Beeld search page}}

However, the Malawian actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa, who played Obesandjo, has stated that the Nigerians in the cast of District 9 were not perturbed by the portrayal of Nigerians in the film, and that the film should not be taken literally: "It's a story, you know. It's not like Nigerians do eat aliens. Aliens don't even exist in the first place."{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8264180.stm |title=Nigeria 'offended' by sci-fi film |website=BBC News |date=19 September 2009 |access-date=23 March 2015 |archive-date=14 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514172228/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8264180.stm |url-status=live}}

Teju Cole, a Nigerian-American writer, has commented that the "one-dimensionality of the Nigerian characters is striking," even when taking into account that District 9 is meant to be a fable. He suggests two possible explanations for Blomkamp's narrative choice: first, that it is meant to reflect anti-foreigner sentiment within South Africa, or second, that it simply represents an oversight on Blomkamp's part.{{Cite web |url=http://africasacountry.com/comment-district-9-and-the-nigerians/ |title=Comment: District 9 and the Nigerians |website=AfricaisaCountry.com |date=11 September 2009 |access-date=23 March 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150412150618/http://africasacountry.com/comment-district-9-and-the-nigerians/ |archive-date=12 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}

In 2013, the film was one of several discussed by David Sirota in Salon.com in an article concerning white savior narratives in film.{{cite news |last=Sirota |first=David |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/ |title=Oscar loves a white savior |work=Salon.com |date=21 February 2013 |access-date=14 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410110258/http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/ |archive-date=10 April 2014}}

Alexandra Heller Nicholas discusses Wikus's self-identity in District 9 as problematic due to him being a white man and the hero of the film. Nicholas argues that a white saviour "disempowers the film's allegory to apartheid that comments on the corruption of the South African government" as well as the discrimination black South Africans dealt with during and post-apartheid. Making Wikus the "white savior" backtracks from the main message of District 9 which is to show the audience the detrimental effects "of colonialism brought by the Western world". Another point Nicholas makes is that District 9 is a "stereotypical White Saviour film". She states that the plot is about a white man working for the government, who has roots "in South Africa's apartheid culture", involuntarily joining the "victims of apartheid". In this case, instead of black people, it's Prawns.{{cite web |first=Emilye |last=Denny |year=2017 |url=https://www.challengingborders.com/there-is-no-need-for-a-white-savior-in-district-9/ |title=There is no need for a White Savior |website=ChallengingBorders.com |archive-date=18 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218213456/https://www.challengingborders.com/there-is-no-need-for-a-white-savior-in-district-9/ |url-status=live}}

It has been argued{{cite journal |id={{Project MUSE|760792}} |last1=Brophy |first1=Gregory |last2=Malley |first2=Shawn |title=Unsettling pedagogy: Sifting the postcolonial midden heaps of Neill Blomkamp's District 9 |journal=Science Fiction Film and Television |date=2020 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=199–222 |doi=10.3828/sfftv.2020.11 |s2cid=225568302}} that Wikus's grotesque transformation is indicative of the fact that "While biological discourses of racial subhumanity might have been expunged from public knowledges in the postapartheid nation, contemporary South Africa continues to be structured according to the binary that undergirds such narratives."{{cite journal |id={{Project MUSE|686934}} |last1=Duncan |first1=Rebecca |title=From Cheap Labour to surplus humanity: World-ecology and the postapartheid speculative in Neill Blomkamp's District 9 |journal=Science Fiction Film and Television |date=2018 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=45–72 |doi=10.3828/sfftv.2018.7 |s2cid=193984726}}

{{main|List of accolades received by District 9}}

District 9 was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2009 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. The film also won The Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. The film received four Academy Awards nominations for: Best Motion Picture of the Year (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham), Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell), Best Achievement in Film Editing (Julian Clarke) and Best Achievement in Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken); seven British Academy Film Awards nominations: Best Cinematography (Trent Opaloch), Best Screenplay – Adapted (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell), Best Editing (Julian Clarke), Best Production Design (Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter), Best Sound (Brent Burge, Chris Ward, Dave Whitehead, Michael Hedges and Ken Saville), Best Special Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken) and Best Director (Neill Blomkamp); five Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations: Best Makeup (Won), Best Screenplay, Adapted (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell), Best Sound, Best Visual Effects and Best Action Movie; and one Golden Globe nomination: Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell).{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/district-9 |title=District 9 |website=GoldenGlobes.com |archive-date=13 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713202353/https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/district-9 |url-status=live}}

It is the fifth TriStar Pictures film ever nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards (the previous four were As Good as It Gets, Jerry Maguire, Bugsy and Places in the Heart). It won the 2009 Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.{{Cite news |first=Kevin |last=Standlee |website=Science Fiction Awards Watch |title=Nebula Awards Results |url=http://www.sfawardswatch.com/?p=3274 |date=15 May 2010 |access-date=15 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525110902/http://www.sfawardswatch.com/?p=3274 |archive-date=25 May 2010}}

On 1 August 2009, two weeks before District 9 was released to cinemas, Neill Blomkamp hinted that he intended to make a sequel if the film was successful enough. During an interview on the Rude Awakening 94.7 Highveld Stereo breakfast radio show, he alluded to it, saying "There probably will be." Nevertheless, he revealed that his next project is unrelated to the District 9 universe.{{Cite news |url=http://scifiwire.com/2009/07/district-9-director-alrea.php |title=District 9 director already thinking about a sequel |date=31 July 2009 |access-date=29 August 2009 |work=Sci-Fi Wire |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919033742/http://scifiwire.com/2009/07/district-9-director-alrea.php |archive-date=19 September 2009}}

In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Blomkamp stated that he was "totally" hoping for a follow-up: "I haven't thought of a story yet but if people want to see another one, I'd love to do it."{{cite web |url=http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/news/1842105/neill_blomkamp_talks_district_9_rt_interview |title=Neill Blomkamp Talks District 9 — RT Interview |last=Mueller |first=Matt |date=3 September 2009 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906121331/http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/news/1842105/neill_blomkamp_talks_district_9_rt_interview |archive-date=6 September 2009}}

Blomkamp has posed the possibility of the next movie in the series being a prequel.{{Cite news |url=https://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=26657 |title=Will The Next District 9 Be A Prequel? |date=10 January 2010 |access-date=14 January 2010 |work=Empire Online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019094245/http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=26657 |archive-date=19 October 2012}}

In an interview with Empire magazine posted on 28 April 2010, Sharlto Copley suggested that a follow-up, while very likely, would be about two years away, given his and Neill Blomkamp's current commitments.{{Cite news |url=https://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=27715 |title=Sharlto Copley On The District 9 Sequel |date=28 April 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 |work=Empire Online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517132858/http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=27715 |archive-date=17 May 2012}}

In an interview with IGN in June 2013, Blomkamp said, "I really want to make a District 9 sequel. I genuinely do. The problem is I have a bunch of ideas and stuff that I want to make. I'm relatively new to this—I'm about to make my third film, and now the pattern that I'm starting to realise is very true is that you lock yourself into a film beyond the film you're currently working on. But it just doesn't work for me." Referring to a potential sequel, Blomkamp said "[he] want[s] to make District 10 at some point."{{Cite web |url=http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/neill-blomkamp-talks-district-9-sequel-star-wars.html |title=Neill Blomkamp Talks About A District 9 Sequel And Star Wars |last=Obias |first=Rudie |date=12 June 2013 |website=Giant Freakin' Robot |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616101247/http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/neill-blomkamp-talks-district-9-sequel-star-wars.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2013}}

On 26 February 2021, Neill Blomkamp revealed on his official Twitter that development was moving ahead on a script for a sequel, titled District 10, with Sharlto Copley and Terri Tatchell co-writing the screenplay with him.{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/1365167374421225473 |title=District 10 screenplay also being written by @sharlto @territatchell and I. Its coming... |website=Twitter |language=en |access-date=26 February 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226051053/https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/1365167374421225473 |url-status=dead}}

On 19 August 2022, Sharlto Copley said in an interview that District 10 was still in discussions; that both he and Blomkamp had written drafts for it, and that the film would probably have a chance once Blomkamp was done shooting Gran Turismo.{{Cite web |url=https://movieweb.com/district-10-gets-another-promising-update-from-sharlto-copley |title=Sharlto Copley - District 10 |website=Movieweb.com |date=18 August 2022 |language=en |access-date=14 November 2022 |archive-date=14 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114145254/https://movieweb.com/district-10-gets-another-promising-update-from-sharlto-copley/ |url-status=live}}

In August 2023, Blomkamp was asked about a District 9 sequel while promoting Gran Turismo and hinted at the project being shelved indefinitely. "I don't know if it's getting made or not," Blomkamp told Brian Davids of The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't know if I even want to make that right now, but at some point down the line, it'll probably get made."{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/gran-turismo-movie-neill-blomkamp-1235575045/ |title='Gran Turismo' Director Neill Blomkamp on Telling an Unlikely True Story and Putting 'District 10' on the Back Burner |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=25 August 2023}}

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