In 2009, South African director Neill Blomkamp broke out onto the Hollywood scene with District 9, which was produced by Peter Jackson. Blomkamp impressed, with his debut feature garnering a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score and racking up $210 million at the worldwide box office on a $30 million budget. On the surface, it's not such a surprise that a movie about aliens who come to Earth would be so successful.

After all, audiences love the alien invasion genre. It's thrilling to see beings from other worlds come to ours and invade, blowing up buildings as humanity is forced to fight back.