District 9 rakes in R2million in its first weekend at SA Box Office

Guess this is a big celebration on behalf of the SA born director Neil Blomkamp cause honestly I never thought the South African will take it as good as I did but kudos to Blomkamp and all the local actors for a job well done.

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Soweto film makes R2m in first week

DISTRICT 9 rose to the No1 position at the South African box- office in its opening weekend, taking more than R2-million.

The locally shot film also received phenomenal acclaim in the US and the UK.

It continues its extraordinary run at the US box office, where it is on track to join the esteemed ranks of the 100-million “blockbuster” list for 2009.

District 9 is directed by South African Neill Blomkamp and produced by the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson.

The film’s storyline revolves around an alien ship that has run out of fuel over Johannesburg. Inside it are a group of starving aliens who are brought into the city and hurriedly moved into a squalid holding camp called District 9.

The movie is a not-so-loose analogy of apartheid and recalls the recent xenophobic violence as well.

Cape Town-based Sharlto Copley — who plays the lead Wikus van der Merwe in the film — said: “It was very moving for me to see South African audiences laughing, crying and at times even clapping at the nuances in the film. Thank you all for your support South Africa!”

The film was shot on location in Soweto last year.

Publicist Joy Sapieka said the movie was received with “overwhelming buzz and local pride”.

“District 9 opened on a par with other Hollywood blockbusters and exceeded the opening weekend of previous local successes, such as Tsotsi and White Wedding,” she said.

Local actors Jason Cope, Kenneth Nkosi, Vanessa Haywood, Louis Minnaar and Sylvaine Strike also feature. Barry Ronge calls it “the most startling, rewarding movie of the year.”