132-526: Neill Blomkamp ( Afrikaans: [ˈnil ˈblɔmkamp] ; born 17 September 1979) is a South African and Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is known as the co-writer and director of the science fiction action film District 9 (2009), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay , and the director of the dystopian science fiction action film Elysium (2013), which garnered moderately positive reviews. He also directed
264-511: A 16 mm camera , and began shooting a film that later became Bad Taste . Jackson has long cited several films as influences. It is well known that Jackson has a passion for King Kong , often citing it as his favourite film and as the film that inspired him early in his life. Jackson recalls attempting to remake King Kong when he was nine. At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con , while being interviewed alongside Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron , Jackson said certain films gave him
396-463: A king cricket species considered a pest in South Africa. 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. Duane Dudek of
528-588: A video game adaptation of the film, which released 21 November 2005 and was also a critical and commercial success. In 2007, Jackson directed a short film entitled Crossing the Line , to test a new model of digital cinema camera, the Red One . The film takes place during World War I , and was shot in two days. "Crossing the Line" was shown at NAB 2007 (the USA National Association of Broadcasters ). Clips of
660-466: A "kick". He mentioned Martin Scorsese 's crime films Goodfellas and Casino , remarking on "something about those particular movies and the way Martin Scorsese just fearlessly rockets his camera around and has shot those films that I can watch those movies and feel inspired." Jackson said the 1970 film Waterloo inspired him in his youth. Other influences include George A. Romero , Sam Raimi and
792-741: A 10-minute multimedia display called Over the Front for the Australian War Memorial in 2008. He contributed to the defense fund for the West Memphis Three . In 2011, Jackson and Walsh purchased 1 Kent Terrace, the home of BATS Theatre in Wellington, effectively securing the theatre's future. In 2012 Jackson supported the American Red Cross "Zombie Blood Drive" together with other famous artists such as The Black Keys band members and
924-399: A North American town. This period was a key one of change for both Jackson and Weta Workshop , the special effects company – born from the one-man contributions of George Port to Heavenly Creatures – with which Jackson is often associated. Weta, initiated by Jackson and key collaborators, grew rapidly during this period to incorporate both digital and physical effects, make-up and costumes,
1056-517: A biennial air show. He owns a scale modeling company Wingnut Wings that specializes in World War I subjects. Wingnut Wings however closed in March 2020 with the ultimate fate of the company and its moulds not yet known. Jackson is known for his attention to detail, a habit of shooting scenes from many angles, a macabre sense of humour, and a general playfulness – the latter to a point that The Lord of
1188-447: A certain theme, with the intention to expand them into a feature film if deemed viable. The first short, an alien invasion-themed film co-written with Sweterlitsch, is titled Rakka . In July 2018, Blomkamp announced that he would be directing a new entry in the RoboCop film series for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . The film was to be adapted from a previously-unproduced spec script written in
1320-468: A church in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun for $ 1.06 million, saving it from demolition. He also contributes his expertise to 48HOURS , a New Zealand film-making competition, through annually selecting 3 "Wildcards" for the National Final. Jackson, a World War I aviation enthusiast, is chair of the 14–18 Aviation Heritage Trust. He donated his services and provided replica aircraft to create
1452-424: A dead mutated creature in a puddle of mud while driving down a countryside road. The creature, a dog-sized mix between a pig and a lizard, presents a tattooed seal on its side that reads "18.12 AGM Heartland Pat. Pend. USA". "AGM Heartland" was trademarked for its use in an entertainment-oriented website. On 20 February 2012, a 23-second video clip titled "IS IT DEAD?" appeared on YouTube, featuring Yolandi Visser , of
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#17328844317901584-506: A deal with the Embracer Group to produce a new series of Lord of the Rings live-action films. On 10 May, RNZ reported that Wellington would serve as the production hub for the new Lord of the Rings films. Jackson was set to make games with Microsoft Game Studios , a partnership announced on 27 September 2006, at X06 . Specifically, Jackson and Microsoft were teaming together to form
1716-412: 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
1848-561: A factory worker and housewife, and William "Bill" Jackson, a wages clerk – were immigrants from England . As a child, Jackson was a keen film fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen films, as well as finding inspiration in the television series Thunderbirds and Monty Python's Flying Circus . After a family friend gave the Jacksons a Super 8 cine-camera with Peter in mind, he began making short films with his friends. Jackson has long cited King Kong as his favourite film, and around
1980-624: A famous scene in which he fights himself on top of a cliff. The film was finally completed thanks to a late injection of finance from the New Zealand Film Commission , after Jim Booth , the body's executive director, became convinced of Jackson's talent (Booth later left the commission to become Jackson's producer). Bad Taste debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May ;1987. Around this time, Jackson began working on writing
2112-525: A film adaptation of the novel Mortal Engines . In October 2016, Jackson stated that the film would be his next project, as producer and co-writer, once again alongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens . The film was directed by his long-time collaborator Christian Rivers . It stars Robert Sheehan , Hera Hilmar , Hugo Weaving , Jihae , Leila George, Ronan Raftery , and Stephen Lang . It premiered on 27 November 2018 in London, received negative reviews and
2244-442: A film of his own choosing. This led to the creation of "District 9." 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
2376-487: A financial success, earning over $ 210 million at the box office. It also received acclaim from critics and garnered numerous awards and nominations, including four Academy Award nominations for Best Picture , Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Visual Effects , and Best Film Editing . In 1982, a giant extraterrestrial spaceship arrives and hovers over the South African city of Johannesburg. An investigation team finds over
2508-587: A giant weapons manufacturer, to relocate the aliens to a new camp outside the city. Piet Smit, an MNU executive, appoints an MNU employee and his son-in-law, Wikus van de Merwe, to lead the relocation. Meanwhile, three aliens, Christopher Johnson, his young son CJ, and his friend Paul, search a District 9 garbage dump for alien fuel in Prawn technology, which Christopher has had them spend the last 20 years synthesizing enough of to enact his plan. They finally finish in Paul's shack as
2640-459: 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. The aliens in District 9 were designed by Weta Workshop , and the design was executed by Image Engine . Blomkamp wanted the aliens to maintain both humane and barbaric features in the design of
2772-565: A list of the Top 25 Sci-Fi Films of All Time. Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson ONZ KNZM (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and the Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), both of which are adapted from the novels of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien . Other notable films include
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#17328844317902904-414: A major change for Jackson in terms of both style and tone. The real-life 1950s Parker–Hulme murder case , in which two teenage girls murdered one of their mothers, inspired the film. It was Fran Walsh that persuaded him that these events had the makings of a movie; Jackson has been quoted saying that the film "only got made" because of her enthusiasm for the subject matter. The film's fame coincided with
3036-553: A man responds when he's forced to confront his identity during extraordinary circumstances." Entertainment Weekly ' s Lisa Schwarzbaum described it as "... madly original, cheekily political, [and] altogether exciting..." 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
3168-399: A million malnourished aliens inside, and the South African government relocates them to a camp called District 9. However, over the years, it turns into a slum, and locals often complain that the aliens—derogatorily called " prawns "—are filthy, ignorant lawbreakers who bleed resources from humans. Following unrest between the aliens and locals, the government hires Multinational United (MNU),
3300-505: A new Lord of the Rings film with the working title The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum . The film is intended to be released in 2026, with Andy Serkis directing from a screenplay written by Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The Hunt for Gollum is the first slate in a new Lord of the Rings film series developed through Warner Bros. label New Line Cinema . In February 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery had signed
3432-735: A new studio called Wingnut Interactive. In collaboration with Bungie , he was to co-write, co-design and co-produce a new game taking place in the Halo universe – tentatively called Halo: Chronicles . On 27 July 2009, in an interview about his new movie (as producer) District 9 , he announced that Halo: Chronicles had been cancelled, while Microsoft confirmed that the game is "on hold". In July 2009 Jackson's game studio Wingnut Interactive were said to be at work on original intellectual property. As of August 2023, there are no games released nor developed by Wingnut Interactive. In 2006, Jackson gave NZ $ 500,000 to embryonic stem cell research . He purchased
3564-486: A number of Hollywood films. Jackson is one of the lead actors in two of his films: in Bad Taste , he plays two characters named Derek and Robert, even engaging them both in a fight. In the mockumentary Forgotten Silver , he plays himself. However, he appears in most films he directs, mostly in cameos, just as director Alfred Hitchcock had done: He has also made cameos in several films not directed by him. In
3696-426: A number of film scripts, in varied collaborative groupings with playwright Stephen Sinclair, writer Fran Walsh and writer/actor Danny Mulheron . Walsh would later become his life partner. Some of the scripts from this period, including a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street , have never been made into movies; the proposed zombie film Braindead underwent extensive rewrites. Jackson's next film to see release
3828-440: 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
3960-441: A population of sick and malnourished insectoid aliens is discovered on the ship, the South African government confines them to an internment camp called District 9. Twenty years later, during the government's relocation of the aliens to another camp, one of the confined aliens named Christopher Johnson, who is about to try to escape from Earth with his son and return home, crosses paths with a bureaucrat named Wikus van de Merwe leading
4092-525: A reel of his commercial work and shorts, shot in his off time. The four shorts that got him noticed included: Tetra Vaal , a faux advertisement for a third-world police robot that established Blomkamp's signature style of mixing lo-fi production with seamless CGI; Alive in Joburg , a gritty mockumentary about extraterrestrials marooned in Johannesburg; Tempbot , an Office Space -esque spoof; and Yellow ,
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4224-412: A review of The Frighteners which claimed that the film was "built from the rubble of other people's movies". In the end, the case was not pursued further. Around this time Jackson's remake of King Kong was shelved by Universal Studios , partly because of Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla , both giant monster movies, that had already gone into production. Universal feared it would be thrown aside by
4356-449: 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. WETA released in July 2010 Christopher Johnson and Son as sculptures. According to
4488-672: A short film based on the colour yellow for Adidas' "Adicolor" campaign by digital studio IDEALOGUE, which portrays a globe-trotting android gone rogue. Blomkamp has admitted since that the Halo pre-production was a nightmare, and relations between 20th Century Fox and Blomkamp severely disintegrated before the project's end. When funding for the Halo film collapsed, Peter Jackson decided to produce District 9 instead, an adaptation of Blomkamp's earlier short film Alive in Joburg , which had been produced by Hansen and Copley. The film, directed by Blomkamp, starring Copley, and co-written with Blomkamp's wife and production partner Terri Tatchell ,
4620-406: A single scene. This is evident in his work where even scenes featuring simple conversations often feature a wide array of multiple camera angles and shot-sizes as well as zooming closeups on characters' faces. One of his most common visual trademarks is shooting close-ups of actors with wide-angle lenses. He was an early user of computer enhancement technology and provided digital special effects to
4752-400: A special prize because of the shots he used. Jackson attended Kāpiti College , where he expressed no interest in sports. His classmates also remember him wearing a duffel coat with "an obsession verging on religious". He had no formal training in film-making, but learned about editing, special effects and make-up largely through his own trial and error. As a young adult, Jackson discovered
4884-451: 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
5016-436: A two-film production, Jackson was later pressured to render the story as a single film, and finally overcame a tight deadline by making a last-minute deal with New Line , which was keen on a trilogy. Principal photography stretched from 11 October 1999 to 22 December 2000 with extensive location filming across New Zealand. With the benefit of extended post-production and extra periods of shooting before each film's release,
5148-444: A writer and executive producer and Guillermo del Toro directing. In early 2010, del Toro dropped out due to production delays and a month later Jackson was back in negotiations to direct The Hobbit ; and on 15 October he was finalised as the director – with New Zealand confirmed as the location a couple of weeks later. The film started production on 20 March 2011. On 30 July 2012, Jackson announced on his Facebook page that
5280-400: Is a naturalised Canadian citizen. He is married to screenwriter Terri Tatchell . Critical, public, and commercial reception to films Blomkamp has directed: District 9 District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell , and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham . It
5412-603: Is a co-production of New Zealand , the United States , and South Africa . The film stars Sharlto Copley , Jason Cope , and David James , and was adapted from Blomkamp's 2006 short film Alive in Joburg . The film is partially presented in a found footage format by featuring fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras. The story, which explores themes of humanity , xenophobia and social segregation , begins in an alternate 1982, when an alien spaceship appears over Johannesburg, South Africa . When
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5544-501: 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 concealed command module dropship underneath his house. Christopher explains to Wikus that the confiscated fuel is crucial to his plan of reactivating the dropship, and if he can get them in the dropship to the mothership, he can cure Wikus. Wikus attempts to acquire weapons from
5676-451: 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." Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend says the film is unique in interpretation and execution, but considers it to be a knockoff of the 1988 film Alien Nation . IGN listed District 9 at No. 24 on
5808-524: Is focusing on directing a horror movie instead. In December 2020, it was revealed that Blomkamp had secretly shot a supernatural horror film, Demonic , in British Columbia during the summer of 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic . In August 2021, it was confirmed that the sequel to District 9 was in the works but that the script was still under development. In 2022, it was announced that he would direct
5940-461: 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." 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
6072-623: The Daily Voice . 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. The film emphasizes
6204-629: The Dark Angel TV series (2000). He was the lead 3D animator for 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001). In 2003, he was hired to illustrate photo-realistic future aircraft for Popular Science ' s "Next Century in Aviation". In 2004, he illustrated "The Future of the Automobile". Blomkamp worked as a visual effects artist at The Embassy Visual Effects in Vancouver as well as at Rainmaker Digital Effects , and
6336-499: The Metro article Jackson criticised the Commission over funding decisions concerning a film he was hoping to executive produce, but refused to drop a client-confidentiality provision that would have allowed them to publicly reply to his criticisms. Jackson won the rights to film Tolkien's epic in 1997 after meeting with producer Saul Zaentz . Originally working with Miramax Films towards
6468-518: The American Humane Association , the film displays an unauthorized "no animals were harmed" end credit, which is a registered trademark of the group. 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
6600-439: The Halo film. 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. 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
6732-504: 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". 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
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#17328844317906864-486: The Lord of the Rings series, and knew Peter Jackson's company Weta Digital would make his vision a reality. It received positive reviews and grossed $ 374 million at the box office. In December 2011, Spielberg said that a sequel was planned, but this time he would be in a producing role, with Jackson as director. Kathleen Kennedy said the script might be done by February or March 2012 and motion-captured in summer 2012, so that
6996-713: The New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. He was later knighted (as a Knight Companion of the order) by Sir Anand Satyanand , the Governor-General of New Zealand , at a ceremony in Wellington in April 2010. In December 2014, Jackson was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Jackson was born on 31 October 1961 in Wellington and was raised in its far northern suburb of Pukerua Bay . His parents – Joan ( née Ruck),
7128-451: The Ponte building . 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
7260-652: 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. 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
7392-449: The Tintin sequel would be made "at some point soon", although he intended to focus on directing two New Zealand films before that. The following year, Anthony Horowitz , who was hired as the sequel's screenwriter even before the release of the first film, stated that he was no longer working on the sequel, and was unsure if it was still being made. In June 2016, Spielberg confirmed that
7524-516: 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". 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 ,
7656-569: The mockumentary Forgotten Silver (1995). This ambitious made-for-television piece told the story of New Zealand film pioneer Colin McKenzie , who had supposedly invented colour film and 'talkies', and attempted an epic film of Salome before being forgotten by the world. Though the programme played in a slot normally reserved for drama, no other warning was given that it was fictionalised and many viewers were outraged at discovering Colin McKenzie had never existed. The number of people who believed
7788-469: The " splatstick " horror comedy Bad Taste (1987) and the black comedy Meet the Feebles (1989) before filming the zombie comedy Braindead (1992). He shared a nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with his partner Fran Walsh for Heavenly Creatures , which brought him to mainstream prominence in the film industry. Jackson has been awarded three Academy Awards for The Lord of
7920-643: The 100 Most Influential People of 2009. A 2011 article in Forbes named him as the 21st most powerful celebrity from Africa. Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg , South Africa. At the age of sixteen, he met Sharlto Copley , who had also attended Redhill High School in Johannesburg. Copley provided Blomkamp with the use of computers at his production company for Blomkamp to pursue his passion and talent for 3D animation and design. In return, Blomkamp assisted Copley in creating 3D work for pitches on various projects. Blomkamp
8052-576: 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. 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. It
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#17328844317908184-504: The District 9 Nigerian arms dealer, Obesandjo, who wants to eat Wikus's alien arm to gain alien abilities. Wikus, however, seizes an alien weapon and escapes. Wikus and Christopher force themselves through MNU to the lab to retrieve the fuel. However, after seeing the brutal experiments MNU has performed on his people in the lab—including a dissected Paul—Christopher tells Wikus he must return home as fast as possible for help and cannot undo Wikus' mutation until he returns in three years due to
8316-688: The New Zealand media tracking down the real-life Juliet Hulme, who wrote books under the name Anne Perry . Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet played Parker and Hulme, respectively. Heavenly Creatures was critically acclaimed and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards and made top ten of the year lists in Time , The Guardian , The Sydney Morning Herald , and The New Zealand Herald . The following year, in collaboration with Wellington film-maker Costa Botes, Jackson co-directed
8448-537: The Nigerians, and Wikus enters the suit and rescues Christopher from the mercenaries. Heading to the dropship, the two come under heavy fire, and Wikus decides to stay behind to fend off the mercenaries and buy time for Christopher to escape, who promises to return after three years and heal Wikus. After all of the other mercenaries are killed, Venter finally cripples the suit and is about to execute Wikus when slum Prawns attack and dismember him alive. Christopher makes it into
8580-524: The Rings conceptual designer Alan Lee jokingly remarked, "the film is kind of incidental, really". Jackson was a noted perfectionist on the Lord of the Rings shoot, where he demanded numerous takes of scenes, requesting additional takes by repeatedly saying, "one more for luck". Jackson is also renowned within the New Zealand film industry for his insistence on "coverage" – shooting a scene from as many angles as possible, giving him more options during editing. Jackson has been known to spend days shooting
8712-520: The Rings: The Return of the King (2003), including Best Picture , Best Director , and Best Adapted Screenplay . His other awards include three BAFTAs , a Golden Globe , two Primetime Emmy Awards and four Saturn Awards among others. His production company is WingNut Films , and his most regular collaborators are co-writers and producers Walsh and Philippa Boyens . Jackson was made a Companion of
8844-424: The South African group Die Antwoord , crouching over the creature. Blomkamp admitted that he was still interested in making a Halo film in April 2013. After Elysium , he started work on his next sci-fi film, Chappie , in April 2013. The film was based on his own short, Tetra Vaal . Blomkamp directed and Sony Pictures Entertainment ( Columbia Pictures ) and Media Rights Capital co-produced and co-financed
8976-684: The Special Presentation at the BFI London Film Festival and followed by a question-and-answer session hosted by English film critic Mark Kermode . The film was created using original footage from Imperial War Museums ' extensive archive, much of it previously unseen, alongside BBC and IWM interviews with servicemen who fought in the conflict. The majority of the footage (save for the start and end sections) has been colourised , converted to 3D and transformed with modern production techniques to present detail never seen before. Before
9108-438: The ability to operate Prawn weaponry, which is biologically restricted for them. Wanting to capture this human/alien hybridity before Wikus fully transforms, Smit orders Wikus' body to be vivisected and harvested for its profitable properties. Wikus, however, overpowers the lab personnel and escapes. While Venter's forces hunt for him, a smear story is broadcast, one that reaches Wikus' wife Tania (Smit's daughter) claiming Wikus
9240-408: The age of nine he attempted to remake it using his own stop-motion models. Also, as a child Jackson made a World War II epic called The Dwarf Patrol seen on the Bad Taste bonus disc, which featured his first special effect of poking pinholes in the film for gun shots, and a James Bond spoof named Coldfinger . Most notable though was a 20-minute short called The Valley , which won him
9372-401: The aliens appearing on the operating table in the medical lab, all of them were created using CGI visual effects. Weta Digital designed the 2 1 ⁄ 2 -kilometer-diameter mothership 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. Some of
9504-470: 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
9636-403: The cast of the show The Walking Dead . His property portfolio in 2018 was estimated at NZ$ 150 million. In 2009, he purchased a Gulfstream G550 jet registered ZK-KFB; his total net worth is estimated by National Business Review at NZ$ 450 million. In early 2014 he replaced his Gulfstream G550, with a Gulfstream G650 also registered ZK-KFB. In April 2014, the aircraft
9768-402: 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. Aside from
9900-420: 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." 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,
10032-476: The critically lauded drama Heavenly Creatures (1994), the horror comedy The Frighteners (1996), the epic monster remake film King Kong (2005), the World War I documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) and the documentary The Beatles: Get Back (2021). He is the fifth-highest-grossing film director of all-time , his films having made over $ 6.5 billion worldwide. Jackson began his career with
10164-409: The director submitted a lengthy criticism of the commission for a magazine supplement meant to celebrate the body's 20th anniversary, criticising what he called inconsistent decision-making by inexperienced board members. The magazine felt that the material was too long and potentially defamatory to publish in that form; a shortened version of the material went on to appear in Metro magazine. In
10296-416: 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 several territories. The film
10428-423: The dropship with CJ, and the dropship is levitated via a tractor beam back into the mothership, which leaves Earth. MNU's experiments are exposed, and the aliens are moved to the new camp named District 10. Tania finds a 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 flowers for his wife. Like Alive in Joburg ,
10560-415: The elements of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic." 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". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Sara Vilkomerson of The New York Observer wrote, " District 9
10692-621: The film can be found at Reduser.net. Jackson completed an adaptation of Alice Sebold 's bestseller, The Lovely Bones , which was released in the United States on 11 December 2009. Jackson has said the film was a welcome relief from his larger-scale epics. The storyline's combination of fantasy aspects and themes of murder share some similarities with Heavenly Creatures . The film ended up receiving generally mixed reviews and middling box office returns yet earned Stanley Tucci an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. Jackson
10824-443: 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. According to HD Magazine, District 9
10956-430: The film's release, an anti-MNU blog run by fictional alien character Christopher Johnson, and an MNU-sponsored educational website. 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. This digital approach to marketing follows
11088-682: 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. The film enjoyed similar success in the UK with an opening gross of £2,288,378 showing at 447 cinemas. Rotten Tomatoes gives District 9 an approval rating of 90% based on 314 critic reviews and 82% based on 250,000+ audience reviews, with an average score of 7.80/10. The website's consensus states, "Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching, District 9 has action, imagination, and all
11220-489: The film, which was released March 2015. In early 2015, Blomkamp posted several pictures to his Instagram page that showed concept art for an Alien film he might have been working on. Included in the art is Ripley and Hicks, a ship bearing resemblance to The Derelict from the 1979 Alien , and a concept Xenomorph. In a February 2015 interview with Collider , he stated that he planned the Alien sequel with Sigourney Weaver in
11352-517: The film. New Line Cinema's head Robert Shaye commented that Jackson "... will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working at the company ...". This prompted an online call for a boycott of New Line Cinema, and by August 2007 Shaye was trying to repair his working relationship. On 18 December 2007, it was announced that Jackson and New Line Cinema had reached agreement to make two prequels, both based on The Hobbit , and to be released in 2012 and 2013 with Jackson as
11484-478: The first two areas normally commanded by Jackson collaborator Richard Taylor. The Frighteners was regarded as a box office failure. Film critic Roger Ebert expressed disappointment stating that "incredible effort has resulted in a film that looks more like a demo reel than a movie". In February 1997, Jackson launched legal proceedings against the New Zealand Listener magazine for defamation , over
11616-556: The forthcoming Tom Sweterlitsch novel The Gone World , described as a "sci-fi time travel" concept, but the film was either subsequently scrapped or stuck in " development hell ," with production never going forward. In 2017, Blomkamp announced the creation of his own film production company, Oats Studios , and confirmed a series of experimental short films and other content titled Oats Studios Volume 1 to be released via Steam . The films will also be available for free streaming on YouTube. These films are distributed to gauge interest in
11748-451: The increasingly improbable story provides testimony to Jackson and Botes' skill at playing on New Zealand's national myth of a nation of innovators and forgotten trail-blazers. The success of Heavenly Creatures helped pave the way for Jackson's first big budget Hollywood film, The Frighteners starring Michael J. Fox , in 1996. Jackson was given permission to make this comedy / horror film entirely in New Zealand despite being set in
11880-486: 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. Chris Mikesell from
12012-424: The late 1980s by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, the writers of the first film , who were slated to executive produce the film. Tentatively titled RoboCop Returns , the film was to serve as a direct sequel to the first film, ignoring 1990's RoboCop 2 and 1993's RoboCop 3 , as well as the 2014 remake . On 15 August 2019, Blomkamp announced on Twitter that he is no longer directing RoboCop Returns as he
12144-502: The lead role as Ellen Ripley . On 18 February 2015, Blomkamp himself confirmed that the Alien film will be his next project. In March 2015, he confirmed that he planned more than one sequel to the Alien franchise . The project was shelved in October 2015, pending the outcome of Ridley Scott 's second prequel installment, Alien: Covenant . In January 2017, a fan on Twitter asked Blomkamp about
12276-514: The limited supply of fuel. Enraged, Wikus knocks Christopher down and attempts to fly the module to the mothership, but Venter's forces shoot it down. Venter captures Wikus and Christopher, but Obesandjo's gang ambushes the MNU convoy and seizes Wikus. Meanwhile, CJ, remaining hidden in the dropship, remotely activates the mothership and a large robotic alien battle suit in Obesandjo's base. The suit guns down
12408-556: The movie was developed with six different endings, but only one was ultimately used. During the same period, Peter Jackson was planning to produce a film adaptation of the Xbox game "Halo" and had chosen Neill Blomkamp as the director. However, due to the interests of major corporations, 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
12540-659: The movie would be on track to be released by Christmas 2014 or mid-2015. In February 2012, Spielberg said that a story outline for the sequel had been completed. In December 2012, Jackson said that the Tintin schedule was to shoot performance-capture in 2013, aiming for a release in 2015. On 12 March 2013, Spielberg said, "Don't hold me to it, but we're hoping the film will come out around Christmas-time in 2015. We know which books we're making, we can't share that now but we're combining two books which were always intended to be combined by Herge." In December 2014, Peter Jackson said that
12672-482: The opening sequence of Hot Fuzz (2007), he played a demented man dressed as Father Christmas , who stabs Nicholas Angel (played by Simon Pegg ) in the hand. Jackson's eldest son, Billy (born 1995), has made cameo appearances in almost every one of his father's films since his birth, namely The Frighteners , The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, King Kong , The Lovely Bones , and the third film of The Hobbit trilogy. His daughter, Katie (born 1996), appears in all
12804-440: The outlook of the film going into production, he responded by saying they were "slim". On 1 May 2017, its title had been revealed to be Alien: Awakening . Ridley Scott confirmed Blomkamp's film had been officially canceled. Fans of the franchise started a petition to help save Blomkamp's cancelled film. Since then, there have been no further developments. In November 2015, it was announced that Blomkamp would be working on adapting
12936-410: 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. The film stood out as a summer film that generated strong business despite little-known casting. Its opening success was attributed to the studio's unusual marketing campaign. In
13068-472: The release of the first movie in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring . There was a special showing of the film after her funeral. Universal Studios signed Jackson for a second time to remake the 1933 classic King Kong . The film was released on 14 December 2005 to critical acclaim and grossed around US$ 562 million worldwide. He also collaborated with game designer Michel Ancel from Ubisoft to make
13200-431: The relocation begins, but when Wikus comes to serve Paul a notice, he finds the hidden container with the fuel and accidentally sprays some of it in his face while confiscating it. Koobus Venter, a cruel MNU mercenary, kills Paul. Wikus begins mutating into a Prawn, starting with his left arm injured after the fuel exposure. He is immediately taken to the brutal MNU lab, where researchers discover his chimeric DNA grants him
13332-543: The relocation. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events in Cape Town 's District Six , during the apartheid era. A viral marketing campaign for the film began in 2008 at San Diego Comic-Con , while the theatrical trailer debuted in July 2009. District 9 had its World Premiere on 23 July 2009 at San Diego Comic-Con. It was released by TriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009, in North America and became
13464-508: The resistance of its residents. 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
13596-446: The science fiction action film Chappie (2015) and the sports drama film Gran Turismo (2023). Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held , cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated visual effects , and his films often deal with themes of xenophobia and social segregation . He is also known for his collaborations with actor Sharlto Copley . Time named Blomkamp as one of
13728-513: The screening, Jackson said, "This is not a story of the First World War, it is not a historical story, it may not even be entirely accurate but it's the memories of the men who fought – they're just giving their impressions of what it was like to be a soldier." Reviewing the film for The Guardian , critic Peter Bradshaw said: The film was broadcast on BBC Two on 11 November 2018. In late December 2009, Jackson announced his interest in
13860-422: The sequel was still in development, but Jackson is working on a secret project in the meantime. Jackson's involvement in the making of a film version of The Hobbit has a long and chequered history. In November 2006, a letter from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh stated that due to an ongoing legal dispute between Wingnut Films (Jackson's production company) and New Line Cinema , Jackson would not be directing
13992-507: The series met with huge success and sent Jackson's popularity soaring. The Return of the King itself met with huge critical acclaim, winning all eleven Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director . The film was the first of the fantasy film genre to win the award for Best Picture and was the second sequel to win Best Picture (the first being The Godfather Part II ). Jackson's mother, Joan, died three days before
14124-498: 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 , 25 km (16 miles) away. The film also refers to contemporary evictions and forced removals to suburban ghettos in post-apartheid South Africa, as well as
14256-430: The software used for the visual effects were Autodesk Softimage . 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
14388-439: The special effects by Ray Harryhausen . Jackson's first feature was Bad Taste , a haphazard fashion splatter comedy which took years to make. It included many of Jackson's friends acting and working on it for free. Shooting was normally done on weekends since Jackson was then working full-time. Bad Taste is about aliens that come to earth with the intention of turning humans into food. Jackson had two acting roles including
14520-576: 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". 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 . District 9
14652-414: The sports film Gran Turismo based on the video game series and the true story of Jann Mardenborough , a teenage Gran Turismo player that later would become an actual racing driver. In 2020, Blomkamp joined Gunzilla Games as Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer. https://gunzillagames.com/en/about/ . He began work on OFF THE GRID and the game went into early access on October 8, 2024. Blomkamp
14784-615: The studio". The documentary used the techniques developed for They Shall Not Grow Old to transform the footage with modern production techniques, and seeks to display a new side of a period in the Beatles' history usually remembered as highly conflictual. Most of the used footage was originally recorded for the 1970 Let It Be documentary . Clare Olssen and Jabez Olssen , respectively producer and editor of They Shall Not Grow Old , returned for this new project, with Ken Kamins, Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde as executive producers. The project
14916-463: The two higher budget movies. This period of transition seems not to have been entirely a happy one; it also marked one of the high points of tension between Jackson and the New Zealand Film Commission since Meet the Feebles had gone over-budget earlier in his career. Jackson has claimed the Commission considered firing him from Feebles , though the NZFC went on to help fund his next three films. In 1997,
15048-525: The two planned Hobbit movies would be expanded into a trilogy. He wrote that the third film would not act as a bridge between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films, but would continue to expand The Hobbit story by using material found in the Lord of the Rings Appendices . On 16 October 2018, Jackson's documentary about the First World War , They Shall Not Grow Old , was premiered as
15180-633: 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. 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
15312-516: The work of author J. R. R. Tolkien after watching The Lord of the Rings (1978), an animated film by Ralph Bakshi that was a part-adaptation of Tolkien's fantasy trilogy. When he was 16 years old, Jackson left school and began working full-time as a photo-engraver for a Wellington newspaper, The Evening Post . For the seven years he worked there, Jackson lived at home with his parents so he could save as much money as possible to spend on film equipment. After two years of work Jackson bought
15444-419: Was Meet the Feebles (1989), co-written with Sinclair, Walsh and Mulheron. Begun on a very low budget, Meet the Feebles went weeks over schedule. Jackson stated of his second feature-length film, "It's got a quality of humour that alienates a lot of people. It's very black, very satirical, very savage." Released in 1994 after Jackson won a race to bring the story to the screen, Heavenly Creatures marked
15576-531: Was 18 when he moved to Vancouver with his family, where he enrolled at the Vancouver Film School . In the late 1990s, he started working in the film industry as a visual effects artist and 3D animator. His animation credits include Stargate SG-1 (1998), First Wave (1998), Mercy Point (1998) and Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999). In 2000, he garnered his first role of lead animator for
15708-548: Was a box-office bomb . On 30 January 2019, the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles ' rooftop concert , which was the band's final performance, Jackson announced that his next directorial work would be a documentary about the making of their final album Let It Be . In a process similar to his previous documentary project They Shall Not Grow Old , this created around "55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to [Jackson's team]", which are "the only footage of any note that documents them at work in
15840-417: Was also presented at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con , advertising the website D-9.com, 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
15972-431: 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. 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. Promotional material
16104-403: Was filled. This film is essentially an expanded version of director Neill Blomkamp's 2005 work. The original short film, titled "Alive in Joburg" was written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. 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." Interestingly,
16236-424: Was made with "the full co-operation" of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr , the last two living Beatles, as well as John Lennon and George Harrison 's widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison . The film includes the full 42-minute last rooftop concert. In March 2020, Walt Disney Studios announced they had acquired the worldwide distribution rights to Jackson's documentary, now titled The Beatles: Get Back . It
16368-505: Was one of three producers on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn , directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2011. He is officially credited as producer but before he began working on The Hobbit , helped Spielberg direct the film. Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis were cast due to their collaboration with Peter Jackson on King Kong and The Lord of the Rings . Spielberg chose to work with Peter Jackson due to his work on
16500-557: Was originally set to be released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on 27 August 2021 in the US and Canada with a subsequent global release to follow. In June 2021, it was announced that it would be released on Disney+ as a three-part documentary series on 25, 26 and 27 November 2021. The documentary was released to generally positive reviews. In May 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed that Jackson and his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens would be producing
16632-583: 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. 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. This marketing strategy
16764-478: Was released in mid-August 2009 by TriStar Pictures to widespread critical acclaim and became a box office success, earning $ 210 million worldwide. District 9 was later nominated for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture , along with nominations for Best Visual Effects, Editing, and Adapted Screenplay. In October 2010, a video released on the iPad version of Wired Magazine was credited to Neill Blomkamp. It shows an amateur recording of two young men who find
16896-488: Was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on 13 October 2020. 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
17028-471: 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
17160-522: 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. 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
17292-420: Was signed by Toronto commercial house Spy Films. Blomkamp directed a trilogy of live-action short films in 2007, known collectively as Landfall . They were set in the Halo universe, to promote the release of Halo 3 . Blomkamp was then slated to direct his first feature-length film, an adaptation of the Halo series of video games, produced by Peter Jackson . Jackson came to know of Blomkamp after viewing
17424-599: Was used in the search for MH370 . The aircraft has subsequently been sold. Jackson owns an aircraft restoration and manufacturing company, The Vintage Aviator (based in Kilbirnie, Wellington, and at the Hood Aerodrome , Masterton), which is dedicated to World War I and World War II fighter planes among other planes from the 1920s and 1930s. He is chairman of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Trust , which hosts
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