District 9

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Read WebWombat Movies Review: District 9

JJ Abrams reinvented the marketing stratergies of Hollywood last year with Cloverfield - a film with a tiny budget, but gave off the impression of a blockbuster of almighty proportions.

So the man behind Lord Of The Rings, Peter Jackson, is following a similar train of thought with his viral marketed District 9. A film we know very little about but is causing quite a stir across the internet.

As far as we know, the story follows a mystery that began thirty years ago, when aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world.

The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9 as the world's nations argued over what to do with them.

Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens' welfare - they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens' awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.

The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe, contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable -- he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

For those who want to get in on the viral marketing, be sure to check out the following website www.multinationalunited.com and a mock alien blog from a character named "George" at www.mnuspreadslies.com

Could be good... could also be just another lame 28 Days Later rip off.

District 9 will creep into Australian cinemas on October 15, 2009