Neill Blomkamp has revealed that the long-awaited sequel to his 2009 sci-fi film District 9 is currently in the works. The director posted a tweet on Thursday, February 26th claiming that the project’s screenplay is now being written by himself, his wife/co-writer Terri Tatchell and Sharlto Copley.

The original film was an international hit, grossing $211M globally. The film uses found footage to showcase the chronicled events after an alien spaceship landed in 1982 South Africa. The film also tackles difficult topics including xenophobia and social segregation.

Ever since the success of District 9, Blomkamp has stated numerous times that he wanted to make a sequel, but this is the first time that it has been confirmed. According to Deadline, the last time Blomkamp has talked about a possible sequel was in 2017, when he responded to an Reddit AMA, stating the reason for the project being put on hold: “Ok, so with District 10 the basic answer is yes. I want to go back to that world and tell the rest of the story with Wikus and Christopher. The issue right now is that I have many other projects and ideas that I also want to work on and complete…..and most importantly, the exact right REASON to make District 10 needs be very clear. The first film was based so explicitly on real themes and topics from South Africa that affected me greatly growing up there, that we need to make sure the next film does not forget that”.

Blomkamp has definitely kept busy during the pandemic, shooting the horror film Demonic over the summer in British Columbia, Canada, when his sci-fi thriller Inferno was halted by the pandemic. Now he’s gotten started on the long-awaited District 10. Only time will tell what the plot of the film will entail, but fans can finally get excited after a long 12 years.