Sony Pictures is acquiring producer Peter Jackson’s sci-fi flick “District 9” in all English-language territories (including North America), Russia, Italy, Korea and Portugal from financier QED Intl.
The deal is in the low-to-middle-eight-figure range, making it one of the heftiest at the American Film Market. Sony’s Screen Gems or Columbia Pictures are the likeliest candidates to release director Neill Blomkamp’s film, which will begin shooting this spring in South Africa.
A Sony spokesman said the deal had not closed late Sunday night, but other sources said this was not true and both parties were simply waiting to issue a formal announcement.
Terri Tatchell and Blomkamp wrote the script, whose live-action plot is veiled in secrecy. Blomkamp and Jackson originally paired to make a big-screen version of the video game “Halo,” but moved on to “District” when that project was put on hold.
