Neill Blomkamp often tops lists of directors fans dream of tackling projects featuring superheroes or classic science fiction icons. And who can blame them? With DISTRICT 9 blowing us away and ELYSIUM looking damn good, too, why wouldn’t you want a guy this talented to tackle a dream project?
Blomkamp, unfortunately, is not interested in helming STAR WARS or STAR TREK and now says he doesn’t want to get involved in any Marvel or DC projects, either. Why? According to an interview with Collider, he wants to be left alone.
“This is my thought process. My thought process is, it’s exactly what I was just saying, I just want to be an artist that’s just left alone. That’s really what I want. I want to make stuff that just…films are the only art form that require commerce so desperately. Any other artist needs a few dollars for a paint brush, really if you think about it, like musicians or authors. They can be as free as they want. This is the one thing that just needs copious amounts of money. If you imagine a filmmaker trying to just be left alone as much as possible and make Star Wars how does that work? Exactly, it kind of doesn’t, but…”
Essentially, Neill Blomkamp is a filmmaker and, while he loves the idea of making these films, he hates studio involvement. The question is then asked how he envisioned being left alone to make the HALO movie he was long associated with.
“I cannot imagine the s–t that would’ve gone down if that production had actually been made,” Blomkamp said of the Halo film. “But Peter (Jackson) may have been able to shield me from it…possibly. The world of Halo and the mythology of Halo, though is still something that I find- it’s like Star Wars, it’s so appealing to me because it’s cool and it’s there and I can imagine it. But you have to do it in a way you can do it yourself.”
There are directors who work better with their own material or adapting something less controlled. Look at Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, or even Kevin Smith: all of them have stayed away from the full studio system and when they have ventured it has ended ugly. I respect that Neill Blomkamp is sticking to his ideals even if that means sacrificing working on a dream project. As long as he is able to make films without the studios, give the man what he needs to keep making original creations.
ELYSIUM opens in theaters tomorrow.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed