NeillBlomkamp
Latest
‘District 9’ director will helm new ‘RoboCop’
Neill Blomkamp, director of sci-fi hits District 9, Elysium and Chappie, will helm a new RoboCop film. MGM wants to revive the franchise with the appropriately-titled RoboCop Returns, which will apparently directly follow the 1987 original film -- and ignore the 2014 reboot.
Twitch will stream five short films and a Q&A by Neill Blomkamp
Neill Blomkamp, director of dystopian sci-fi epics District 9, Elysium and Chappie, will be live on Twitch tomorrow, April 11, showcasing five independent films made by his film studio, Oats Studios. After each of the short films -- Rakka, God, Zygote, Kapture and Firebase -- Blomkamp, his art director Rich Simpson and his VFX supervisor Chris Harvey will do a Q&A, where fans will have the opportunity to ask the team about its inspiration and, pertinent to the types of movies Blomkamp is known for, its logistics.
How Valve inspired Neill Blomkamp to start his own movie studio
Neill Blomkamp has a question: "If you could break apart films and treat them a little bit more like software, what would that look like?" Whether it's blindly following Amazon Instant recommendations or waiting for a film to hit Netflix instead of buying it, video streaming has slowly ushered in a new cinematic landscape; changing the way we consume movies drastically. Yet, despite the impact of the internet on movie-watching, filmmakers' still haven't truly changed their creative process. Cult sci-fi director Blomkamp wants to do exactly that. After District 9, Elysium and Chappie, the director set up Oats Studio, which has just released three short films -- Firebase, Rakku and Zygote (collectively titled Volume 1). With YouTube and Steam as distribution platforms, Blomkamp's new endeavor is aiming for a more collaborative approach to crafting movies. While he's still toying with how best to monetize his creations, the short films are all free on YouTube and Steam. But that's just the start: Alongside each film, Oats is also selling "DLC" -- its 3D assets and raw sound files -- on Steam for $5. For Blomkamp, this video-game-inspired "free to watch" approach is all about collaboration. By putting the shorts online for free, Blomkamp and his studio can see which ideas people gravitate toward rather than pouring millions of dollars into an idea that might never recoup its costs. More importantly, though, the DLC gives young creators access to big-budget assets, allowing fans to recut Oats' shorts or even use complex CG models for movies of their own. All the shorts boast cinema-quality visual effects, and Zygote and Rakku feature performances from stars like Dakota Fanning and Sigourney Weaver. After watching Volume 1, I spoke with Neill Blomkamp to find out more about this ambitious project and how he sees the internet shaping his future movies.
An 'Alien' movie is coming from the creator of 'District 9'
District 9 creator Neill Blomkamp gave sci-fi fans a brief glimmer of hope in January, when he teased that he had secretly been working on an Alien sequel that had (apparently) been scuttled. Well, it might be back on again -- Blomkamp is now claiming on Instagram (with support from Variety sources) that the project is "officially [his] next film." There's no word on the movie's plot or when it might hit theaters, but his sneak peek showed concept art that included Ripley in an alien-like suit, Weyland-Yutani's headquarters and the return of Aliens' Corporal Hicks.
Halo 3: Landfall - all three Blomkamp shorts cut together
Halo 3: Landfall, a combination of Neill Blomkamp's three previously-released live-action short videos depicting the events following Halo 2, has now been released online; it is also available through Xbox Live. One thing we noticed as the film progresses is the improved quality between each of the three shorts. Of course, the next logical thought would be what Blomkamp could do with another Halo video, or perhaps even a film. Alas, it just wasn't meant to be. [Via X3F]
Video: Neill Blomkamp's Halo 3: Landfall
Available since last week on Xbox Live Marketplace, Halo 3: Landfall is now on the web for all to see. Lest you're unfamiliar with the video, it's all three of Neill Blomkamp's Halo 3 short films edited into one. We have to admit, seeing them all together makes us pine for the Halo movie that could have been. The film takes place just prior to the events of Halo 3 and tells the story of a pair of orbital drop shock troopers (ODST) on a mission critical to Earth's success in the Human / Covenant war: they have to confirm Master Chief's coordinates as he rockets through the atmosphere (see the ending of Halo 2). Sounds easy enough, right? Watch and see for yourself.
Second Halo short "Combat Part 1" is officially live
The official version of the second Halo short film, entitled "Combat Part 1," is now live and ready for consumption. Microsoft has also announced that it should be ready for download on Xbox Live Marketplace, though we have been unable to find it thus far. MS seems to be having trouble uploading videos this week. The official version is definitely a step up from the leaked version that hit the net last week. No more pink fire and an actual ending are some of the advantages of the new version. Last week, we suggested that dedicated fanboys keep an eye out for needler shards, while our commenters said they were actually spiker rounds. Well, you were right readers, for Spiker rounds they are. Make sure you spot them, as watching the white-hot metal cool as the spikes hit the concrete will make you all tingly. That's how it made us feel at least. [Via Joystiq]
Official version of second Halo short released
We already showed you a shaky-cam version of the second Neill Blomkamp-directed Halo short (official titled "Combat Part 1"). But we thought you might enjoy seeing the "official" version, with all of its proper audio and colors corrected. As we thought it might, having a solid version of the clip makes it considerably more palatable, a definite improvement over "Arms Race."Maybe this is just us, but we'd still like to see something a little more grand for Halo, something a little less Saving Private Ryan. But we can see how some fans of the series are getting excited, if only to see life brought to some of the icons from the series.
Leaked: the second live action Halo short film
The second in the series of live action Halo shorts has hit the internetz with a quickness. We received a few very low quality shaky-cam videos, but this one seems to do a better job than the rest. The first thing you'll notice is that there is much more action this time around than was present in the first short, "Arms Race". That is to say, this video actually has action. Honestly, the quality is low enough that it's hard to judge how good the video actually is. Still, Neill Blomkamp's directorial style, which emphasizes documentary-like realism over special effects wizardry, helps make the film grittier and, well, more realistic. Without judging the film before it's released properly, we will point out that there is one thing that is definitely missing: music. With such a rich musical history from which to draw, we're a little befuddled that neither of the Halo shorts have done so. Without Marty O'Donnell's music, it just doesn't quite feel like Halo. Again though, this video may not even be finished for all we know (the bright green plastic looks a little out of place for example). Here's hoping the final product really delivers.Protip: keep an eye out for errant needler shards. They will give you a nerdgasm.[Via Joystiq. Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
