For once I can finally say, I've got a good feeling about this movie's ARG. Looks like Sony is investing lots of time and money creating a layered look at the tensions between humans and illegal aliens, for Neill Blomkamp's new flick.

We've already run a round up on the immense online campaign of MNU's website, plus the anti MNU bloggers (and their mysterious disappearances). Seriously, you could spend hours reading all the material D9 has provided.

D9 will be in theaters August 14, 2009.

The mockumentary-looking film focuses on the slums we force an unfortunate alien race to live in on Earth, and our not so human response to their presence. If this film is anything like we've seen from Blomkamp before it promises to be an incredibly challenging and thought provoking feature, with the visual appeal of producer Peter Jackson. D9 will be released on August 14.

Blomkamp was originally tapped to direct Halo but when that fell through Peter Jackson brought him on to helm this alien-discrimination flick.

District 9 follows the segregation that takes place in Africa when a large UFO lands just above Earth and it's inhabitants are forced to live amongst humans. I'm assuming the cultural divide and fear between the two species is how the poor aliens get stuck in their own quarantined zones, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

According to reports, the movie sounds like it was shot very similar to Joburg, in a pseudo-documentary style. The movie follows a main character who gets squirted with some sort of liquid while inspecting one of the many alien shanties, which turns this guy into "one of them."

Slashfilm:

Even though it was not complete, everything looked very real and gritty, and not so other worldly like other sci-fi films. The alien creatures are tall and red, and the closest thing I can compare them to is the Predator. The end of the footage featured a lot of quick cuts, but we got to see a bunch of explosions and the use of alien-looking weapontry.

First Showing has a good description:

The aliens, which we got a few glimpses of, reminded me a lot of the turians from Mass Effect. They were much taller than most humans and came in different sizes and colors. We saw some actions scenes with explosions and the MNU police attacking the aliens, but all in small scale (a lot like Cloverfield).

Cinemablend:

But at some point this new infection inspires him to go back into District 9 and actually get to know the aliens, who apparently speak English and have names like Christopher. He tells them "I did not know they were doing this to you guys," over footage of aliens being beaten by armed guards, and then is seen shooting a gun in the general direction of fellow humans.

Check out the sites for the full detailed recap, I'm literally turning Orion Slave-girl shade of green, with jealousy over everyone who got to see this footage. Debuting a bit of footage at ShoWest, paired with the insane viral marketing that covered the halls, bathrooms and restaurants at San Diego Comic Con, can only mean one thing, I'll be sitting front row in center the the very likely District 9 panel at this year's Comic Con. You can have your AVATAR - I'll take down-to-Earth anti-alien intolerance any day.

Here's Alive In Joburg to give you a taste of Blomkamp's work and, hopefully, what everyone is talking about:

Alive In Joburg - Neill Blomkamp from Spy Films on Vimeo.

MNU stands for Multi-National United. Their site appears to be a completely legit corporation that excels in "space technology." But upon reading their propaganda you get the feeling of an extreme bias against aliens, as they keep repeating "human" help over and over. Also there are plenty of ads inviting you to join up with the MNU force, and you and I both know private security militias never lead to anything good. What do you want to bet MNU has a basement full of poor aliens being tortured and experimented on?

The District 9 rules and regulations page (which explains the ins and outs of Earth alien life) has both an entrance for both human and non-human users. When opened you can see the District 9 refers to an "alien only" district that humans are discouraged from entering and aliens are not allowed to leave. The MNU has a list of rules for both human and alien species ranging from what to so with unregistered eggs to urging humans to "refrain from the manufacturing or distributing of things that glorify non-human cultures."

You could spend hours exploring the many rules for dealing with non-humans or perusing the list of alien crimes. It looks like MNU is trying to keep a tight hold over their new alien residents, but makes no attempts to actually communicate with this culture. The site advises that "drawing pictures or using simple sign language is an effective way of communicating with non-humans, but should be used with caution."

For every overpowering government there is an opposition, which can be found at the MNU Spreads Lies blog. The author, George, writes in alien tongue, but it's easily translated. George writes about terrible injustice that happens behind the closed door of MNU, and how many of his fellow revolutionaries are "disappearing." His blog promotes alien-human equality and gives little hints about the alien back story. District 9 appears not only to be where the aliens are allowed to hang, but also a crash site. Perhaps our alien pals crash landed here by accident? Also there is a militant pro-alien movement called the Pro-Forma group. This group has lead many suicide missions and made the area close to D-9 extremely dangerous. George is constantly worried for his safety along with many of his friends.

According to his blog, he used to work for MNU but quit when the injustices started to happen. His job seemed to be linked to the "tags" that MNU requires everyone to have. George is mighty suspicious of these tags as well as the "egg registration" MNU forces the aliens into. "He" even goes as far to suggest that perhaps these alien babies are being disposed of.

Finally there is the Maths From Outer Space site, supported by MNU. This kid-friendly site encourages people to volunteer to expand their mind. Take a test and find out if you've got the goods to "enhance the spacial logic of the human body." Which seems to point directly back to the theory that aliens are being tortured for their superior technology and intelligence.

District 9 looks like it could be Peter Jackson's take on Guantanamo Bay mixed with the racial injustices and segregation that happened in America, but with aliens. It's actually pretty plausible because one of the things human know how to do best is destroy and control anything we don't understand. As long as D-9 demonstrates its motives without getting overly preachy I'm game for the alien revolt.