History Trivia / District9

** The slums used in filming were actual slums in Johannesburg, where the residents were to be moved to better government housing. [[LifeImitatesArt Some of the residents hadn't been moved out by the time filming began]].

* WordOfGod: The fluid is [[spoiler:actually a nanite solution used for fixing things.]]

* BannedInChina: UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}} has banned the movie because it "portrays Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals". Nigerian immigrants in South Africa are often poor and are blamed for an increase in crime. The VoxPops segments were obtained by asking locals for their opinions on Nigerian immigrants. The cannibalism depicted in the film is actually inspired by the treatment of albinos in Tanzania.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles: Jason Cope portrayed all of the speaking aliens, as well as providing the voice of the documentary narrator.

* DuelingMovies: It was one of three films released in the fall/winter of 2009 with "Nine" in the title, causing a little confusion among the less attentive of moviegoers.

* NamesTheSame: Located nowhere near [[Literature/TheHungerGames the District 9 where grain and wheat are grown in Panem]].

** A pretty big one: originally, Creator/NeillBlomkamp and Creator/PeterJackson were going to use the money that would finance this movie to adapt ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' into a movie. When that [[DevelopmentHell fell through]], the studio let him keep the money to [[AuteurLicense do whatever he wanted]]. Now, ''District 9'' is a great film, but just imagine a ''Halo'' movie made by those two...

* FanNickname: Christopher's son is referred to as either "C.J." or "Oliver" in most works of fandom, despite having no apparent canon name. The DVD subtitles give his name as "Little C.J." The name Oliver can actually be considered canon, as it was mentioned in [[http://mnuspreadslies.com/post.php?id=45 this post to Christopher's blog]] that he had two children, named Oliver and Sherry.

* BannedInChina: UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}} has banned the movie because it "portrays Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals". Nigerian immigrants in South Africa are often poor and are blamed for an increase in crime. The VoxPops segments were obtained by asking locals for their opinions on Nigerian immigrants. The cannibalism is actually inspired by the treatment of albinos in Tanzania.

** The aliens were originally designed to be hulking creatures with leathery skin and tentacled faces. They were to be played by actors in creature suits. Another idea was to have the prawn design as well, but the prawn aliens would be masters of the tentacled ones. Along the way, they decided to keep the prawn design for everyone and use CGI.

** Comes from the quote "if they were from another country, maybe we would understand" in the first half. Maybe intentional, maybe not, but it's hard to deny. In May 2008, ([[{{Irony}} black]]) South Africans rioted to expel Zimbabweans (primarily) as well as Malawians and Mozambicans from the country, or hack them to death with machetes--whichever. At least two people died and many more were injured. Thousands of people left the country, while others were deported, and there's still (as there has been for decades) an underlying nationalist sentiment. So yeah, no.

* SleeperHit: No stars, Hard R as hell, produced without a complete script and on a tiny (for a big Hollywood sci-fi action movie) budget of only [[NoBudget thirty million dollars]], it made more than ''seven times'' its budget back at the US box office and [[StarMakingRole launched the careers]] of Sharlto Copley and Neill Blomkamp practically overnight.

** The South African Rap band Music/DieAntwoord are friends of Blomkamp and were supposed to be cast in this film but scheduling difficulties got in the way and they ended up being cast in ''Film/{{Chappie}}''. One wonders how different the film would have been, given their (somewhat) sympathetic presentation in {{Chappie}} in comparison to the utterly ruthless gangsters in ''District 9''.

** Originally, Creator/NeillBlomkamp and Creator/PeterJackson were attempting to adapt ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' into a movie. When that [[DevelopmentHell fell through]], the studio let him keep the money to [[AuteurLicense do whatever he wanted]].

* CreatorCameo: Neill Blomkamp can be seen giving the co-ordinates when Kobus is tracking Wikus's location.

* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Save for one or two scenes, Sharlto Copley improvised all of Wikus's dialogue.

* StarMakingRole: Sharlto Copley had not acted before and was pushed on camera for the original short film. The overwhelming success of this kickstarted an acting career for him, appearing in all of Blomkamp's subsequent films as well as notable hits like ''Film/{{Maleficent}}''.

** Kobus's reaction to the truck flipping was actually David James's reaction to the stunt ''not'' working after about seven attempts.

** Originally, Blomkamp and Jackson were attempting to adapt ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' into a movie. When that [[DevelopmentHell fell through]], the studio let him keep the money to [[AuteurLicense do whatever he wanted]].

** The South African Rap band DieAntwoord are friends of Blomkamp and were supposed to be cast in this film but scheduling difficulties got in the way and they ended up being cast in {{Chappie}}. One wonders how different the film would have been, given their (somewhat) sympathetic presentation in {{Chappie}} in comparison to the utterly ruthless gangsters in District 9.

* StarMakingRole: Sharlto Copley had not acted before and was pushed on camera for the original short film. The overwhelming success of this kickstarted an acting career for him, appearing in all of Blomkamp's subsequent films as well as notable hits like ''Film/Maleficent''.

* RealitySubtext: Comes from the quote "if they were from another country, maybe we would understand" in the first half. Maybe intentional, maybe not, but it's hard to deny. In May 2008, ([[{{Irony}} black]]) South Africans rioted to expel Zimbabweans (primarily) as well as Malawians and Mozambicans from the country, or hack them to death with machetes--whichever. At least two people died and many more were injured. Thousands of people left the country, while others were deported, and there's still (as there has been for decades) an underlying nationalist sentiment. So yeah, no.

** Originally, Blomkamp and Jackson were attempting to adapt ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' into a movie. When that [[DevelopmentHell fell through]], they went with this instead.

* WordOfGod: The fluid is [[spoiler:actually a nanite solution used for fixing things.]]

* BannedInChina: UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}} has banned the movie because it "portrays Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals". Nigerian immigrants in South Africa are often poor and are blamed for an increase in crime. The VoxPop segments were obtained by asking locals for their opinions on Nigerian immigrants. The cannibalism is actually inspired by the treatment of albinos in Tanzania.

** The South Africans participating in the VoxPop segments didn't realize they were being filmed about space aliens. They were asked their opinion on Nigerian immigrants, and their comments were edited to make it seem like they're complaining about the prawns.

* BannedInChina: UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}} has banned the movie because it "portrays Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals". There are some cannibalistic Nigerian gangsters in the film, but it never says ''all'' Nigerians are gangsters. Nigerian immigrants into South Africa are often poor and are blamed for an increase in crime. The cannibalism is actually inspired by the treatment of albinos in Tanzania.
* DuelingMovies: With ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', both competing for the title of ''"HumansAreTheRealMonsters: TheMovie"'' And while not dueling in content, it was one of three films released in the fall/winter of 2009 with "Nine" in the title, causing a little confusion among the less attentive of moviegoers.

** The South Africans participating in the ''vox populi'' segments didn't realize they were being filmed about space aliens. They were asked their opinion on Nigerian immigrants, and their comments were edited to make it seem like they're complaining about the prawns.

* NetworkToTheRescue: The film's entire ''existence'' is this trope. Neill Blomkamp was Peter Jackson's choice to helm the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' film. When the budget of that reached $145 million, the studios canned it. Jackson then went to Blomkamp and essentially said "Sorry that didn't work out, here's $30 million, go have fun." It also counts as a complete [[AvertedTrope avoidance]] of ExecutiveMeddling. Jackson knew exactly what Neill was capable of and wanted him to do whatever he wanted, knowing it would be awesome.

* WordOfGod: The fluid? [[spoiler:It's actually a nanite solution used for fixing things.]]

* FanNickname: Christopher's son is referred to as either "C.J." or "Oliver" in most works of fandom, despite having no apparent canon name. The DVD subtitles give his name as "Little C.J." The name Oliver can actually be considered canon, as it was mentioned in [[http://mnuspreadslies.com/post.php?id=45 this post to Christopher's blog]] that he [[spoiler:had]] two children, named Oliver and Sherry.

* FanNickname: Christopher's son is referred to as either "C.J." or "Oliver" in most works of fandom, despite having no apparent canon name. The DVD subtitles give his name as "Little C.J." The name Oliver can actually be considered canon, as it was mentioned in [[http://mnuspreadslies.com/post.php?id=45 this post to Christopher's blog]] that he [[spoiler: had]] two children, named Oliver and Sherry.

** Originally, Blomkamp and Jackson were attempting to adapt [[HaloCombatEvolved Halo]] into a movie. When that [[DevelopmentHell fell through]], they went with this instead.

* EnforcedMethodActing: The South Africans participating in the ''vox populi'' segments didn't realize they were being filmed about space aliens. They were asked their opinion on Nigerian immigrants, and their comments were edited to make it seem like they're complaining about the prawns.
** Obesanjo's "Holy shit!" reaction when Wikus shoots the gangster - actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa was not prepared for the strength of the air compressors that blew out the side of the shack.

** •Obesanjo's "Holy shit!" reaction when Wikus shoots the gangster - actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa was not prepared for the strength of the air compressors that blew out the side of the shack.

* EnforcedMethodActing: The South Africans participating in the ''vox populi'' segments didn't realize they were being filmed about space aliens. They were asked their opinion on Nigerian immigrants, and their comments were edited to make it seem like they're complaining about the prawns.