District 9 director says sequel is coming in "the near future"

District 9 director Neill Blomkamp has provided another update on his sequel to the sci-fi movie – and it's getting closer.

"I am still working on it," Blomkamp told Dexerto. "The answer is it's within the near future." 

District 9, released in 2009, was Blomkamp's debut feature film. Set in an alternate version of Johannesburg, South Africa, the movie centers around a group of aliens confined to an internment camp by the South African government. When the aliens are relocated to another camp, one of them crosses paths with Wikus Van De Merwe, one of the government officials leading the process, and Wikus eventually starts to turn into an alien himself. 

Produced by Peter Jackson, the movie stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James and it was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture.

"It took a decade to figure out, to come up with a reason why to make that film as opposed to just make a sequel," Blomkamp told IGN last year. "There was a topic in American history that the second I realized that that fit into the world of District 9, it felt like an awesome way to do a sequel."

In between District 9 and 10, Blomkamp has directed the dystopian sci-fi movies Elysium and Chappie, as well as the supernatural horror film Demonic. He's also working on a sci-fi thriller titled Inferno, but that movie doesn't have a release date yet.  

While we wait for District 10 to arrive on the big screen, check out our guide to this year's movie release dates.