“District 9″ was one of the ballsiest movies I’ve seen in a long time and fortunately the general movie-going public has recognized this too. Asked in two separate interviews about plans for a sequel, director Neil Blomkamp stated he doesn’t foresee focusing on the return of Christopher Johnson, but rather continuing to tell the story of Wikus van der Merwe. He also wouldn’t mind spending time with a prequel, since he finds Wikus to be “‘hilarious’ and more fascinating before his redemption in the movie.” Star Sharlto Copley agrees that it would be fun to portray his character as his younger self. But before any of this happens, Blomkamp will be spending time with another science fiction project set on a “different planet, way in the future.”

To balance that off, we also have two dumb stories today. Director James McTeigue (“V For Vendetta”) is going to direct “The Raven,” which imagines Edgar Allen Poe hunting a serial killer who models his kills on stories Poe himself has written. Secondly, prepare yourself for SIX Shakespeare plays filmed in 3D!!! Expect to be assaulted by “a ghost that hovers in front of the aud’s eyes, cannon fire that flies into the auditorium and a sword fight that appears to happen all around viewers.” Ah, literature.

Bryan Singer (“The Usual Suspects,” “X-Men,” “Superman Returns,” “Valkyrie”) has a whole lot on his plate: he might be making a cinematic remake of “Battlestar Galactica,” might be remaking “Excalibur,” and might be making up with Fox and returning to his franchise with “X-Men: First Class.” His next project though will most likely be “Jack the Giant Killer,” “a riff on the Jack and the Beanstalk legend that was developed by New Line with scripters Darren Lemke and Mark Bomback and producer Neal Moritz.”

In the Grave

Universal has moved “The Wolfman” from a fall release date to February 2010, signs that the studio has no confidence in the film whatsoever. A more puzzling release date change is that of Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island.” The film has also been moved to February, but rumors are that it’s due to the economy; Paramount reportedly does not have enough money to publicize the film as a nominee for the Academy Awards. Lastly, “The Green Lantern” itself may not be dead, but its original shooting location is. Due to the rising value of Australian currency, Warner Brothers has decided to move the production from down under to the big easy, New Orleans. Shooting is still scheduled for some time next year.

Back From the Dead

Just recently I reported that the LACMA film program is shutting down in the next couple of months, but just as quickly a $150,000 pledge swooped in to save the day. The Los Angeles Times says that “the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which organizes the annual Golden Globe Awards, and Time Warner Cable, in association with Ovation TV, have each agreed to put up $75,000 toward the LACMA film program, which had been scheduled to close in October.” The cable companies also promised to spend an additional $1.5 million across the nation to market the film program. Unfortunately this will only last them until June of next year, so please continue attending, donating, and spreading the word.

John Carpenter is back in the director’s chair! He hasn’t made a film since 2001′s “Ghosts of Mars,” and though he did direct a couple episodes of “Masters of Horror,” it just hasn’t been the same without him. He’s already deep into filming “The Ward,” about a mental hospital patient (Amber Heard) plagued by a ghost.

Also coming out of the woodwork is John Landis, who is directing “Burke and Hare,” about the duo who murdered up to 30 people and sold their bodies to science in 1800s Scotland. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, Simon Pegg is set to star as one of the two killers.

Sony Pictures Classics might possibly distribute Terry Gilliam’s latest film, “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” Heath Ledger’s final and unfinished role, which was completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. The film has already had international distribution for quite some time, which is set for the end of the year. Meanwhile, Lionsgate has picked up “Kick-Ass,” based on Mark Millar’s comic book, for 3,500 theaters. Both films were previewed at this year’s Comic-Con before they even had distribution deals.

Unoriginal Content

Book Adaptations of the Week—Steven Spielberg will direct the late Michael Crichton’s soon-to-be-published “Pirate Latitudes.” Robert Downey, Jr., will take over the role Tom Cruise originated as the vampire Lestat in a reboot of Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles.” Randall Wallace (“Braveheart,” “Pearl Harbor”) will rewrite Justin Marks’ (“Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li”) script for McG’s “Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Al Gough and Miles Millar (“Smallville”) will be adapting James Frey’s (a fake memoir) and Jobie Hughes’ teen sci-fi novel, “I Am Number Four,” for Michael Bay (overloaded films). Lastly, “Napoleon Dynamite’s” Jon Heder will star in Bradley Denton’s sci-fi novel “Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede.”

Comic Adaptations of the Week—Frank Darabont will adapt “The Walking Dead” as a series for the AMC television network.

Music Adaptation of the Week—Director Bobcat Goldthwait (the upcoming comedy “World’s Greatest Dad”) is next working on a movie about a spree killer. But after that he’s heading into musicals, and more precisely a musical based on an obscure Kinks rock opera called “Schoolboys in Disgrace.”

Biopics of the Week—Robin Williams has reportedly been asked to play singer Susan Boyle, who became famous after being ridiculed and then showing a ton of talent on “Britain’s Got Talent.” Robert Redford will direct “The Conspirator,” about Mary Surratt, who was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Paul Giamatti will play Larry in the Farrelly Brothers’ “Three Stooges” even though both Sean Penn and Jim Carrey have dropped out. Producer David Permut has picked up the rights to “A Life in the Day,” by Tony Gittelson, about Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Toy Adaptation of the Week—Producer Dan Lin (“Shorts,” “Sherlock Holmes”), with the help of Warner Brothers and screenwriters Kevin and Dan Hageman, will attempt to adapt Hasbro’s Lego building blocks into a live-action/CGI feature film.

Sequels of the Week—Director Peter Berg hints that there might be another superpowered god guy in “Hancock 2” and writers Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara have been hired to try to possibly fit that into the plot. Ericson Core will direct “XXX 3.”

Remakes of the Week—James Woods and Willa Holland have joined James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard (“True Blood”) in the cast of Rod Lurie’s “Straw Dogs.” Bruce Joel Rubin (“Ghost,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife”) will remake the 2002 Japanese film “Yomigaeri” (“Resurrection”) as “Rainbow Bridge.” Lastly, fresh off of “Halloween 2,” Rob Zombie will direct “The Blob.”

Final Words

Monty Python has reunited!