Prawns are the focus of the 2009 film, District 9.
In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns," appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new 'Prawn' friends.
Appearance
Prawns are spindly weta like humanoids with prawn like faces,grasshopper shaped legs, a crab like green reddish brown shell and cockroach antennae
Powers and Abilities
Prawns possess the following powers and abilities:
- Advanced Technology
- Hidden Agendas
Fate
Prawns survive the events of this film.
Trivia
- The language used by the aliens (clicking sounds) was created by rubbing a pumpkin.
- As part of the marketing campaign in North America and the United Kingdom, posters were put up in major cities on bus stops, the sides of buildings, etc., designating areas that were restricted for humans only, with a number to call in order to report non-humans.
- The mutilated animal carcasses in the background of many scenes were real and, with only a few exceptions, were already in the real slums and shacks used for the filming.
- All of the aliens in the film are CGI except the ones on operating tables in the medical lab. All of the speaking aliens were performed by one actor, Jason Cope, who also played correspondent Grey Bradnam. The dialogue for the speaking aliens was ad-libbed by Cope, and dubbed over in post-production.
- In addition to the original ending, director Neill Blomkamp shot five alternate endings for the film.
- The design for the aliens went through quite a few iterations before the final insectoid "prawn" concept was finalised. Originally, the aliens were conceived as hulking creatures with leathery skin and tentacled faces, and were intended to be performed by actors in creature suits. The "prawn" creatures were initially meant to be "masters" of the tentacle-faced creatures (keeping with the idea that the aliens were slaves). Eventually, the lumbering creatures were dispensed with, the "prawn" creature design was settled upon, and it was decided that the aliens would be realised via CGI.
- Body count: twenty-one MNU men, fifteen Nigerians, and three aliens.
- Wikus as a prawn is slightly different looking than other prawns. His antennae are shorter and he stands over a foot shorter than the other prawns. The prawns, such as Christopher, stand at roughly seven feet tall.
- On February 26, 2021, Neill Blomkamp revealed on his official Twitter that development was moving ahead on a script for a sequel, titled District 10
- they have a fondness for cat food
- they sometimes have fighting pits where two small scorpion like animals fight each other and the winner gets money
Photo Gallery
