4. Neil Blomkamp
Next to Duncan Jones, there isn't a name I get as excited about as Neill Blomkamp. Blomkamp flew to prominence when he became attached to a Peter Jackson produced Halo adaption, that never came to fruition. However, it worked out all fine and dandy as they both moved onto District 9 and the rest is history. For my money, District 9 is probably my favorite sci-fi film of the last 10 years, and was a formative experience for me as a writer and filmmaker. Neill Blomkamp's name is another that gets shopped around when franchises drop directors, although thus far he has been able to focus just on his own projects after being burned by Halo. However, I think he may well become one fo the hottest properties in Hollywood after this summer's Elysium. From what I have been hearing, the film could well run away with the best film this summer and as I am a Blomkamp fan, I am really excited about it. This could well put Blomkamp at the top of Paramounts list in terms of getting a director for Trek 3. However, with that success, it may well give Blomkamp the breathing space to keep making the films he wants. His next film is going to be Chappie, a film about a Robot starring Sharlto Copley, but that is reportedly going into production this year. So it shoudln't be a problem if Blomkamp wanted to take over the franchise. However, so far he seems to staying away from franchises and I do have my doubts he would give up a standalone project he wanted to do in favour of Trek. Also, in a more guess based concern, his name was thrown around a lot for Star Wars Episode 7 before JJ Abrams stepped into those shoes. I do think that we may see him take on one of the standalone films in the Star Wars universe that we keep hearing about, but that is only based on his name being in lots of talks around Star Wars.
Pros: About to hit the spotlight with Elysium, Works in the Sci-Fi genre, Young exciting director
Cons: Interest in own projects, Too different stylistically, Star Wars?
Grade: B-