This Week in Trailers: The Folks with Crossbows

District 9: Neill Blomkamp’s film about aliens as refugees in a South Africa ghetto is produced by Peter Jackson and hits theaters August 14.

First Impressions: Sure, it’s July and T4, Star Trek, and Transformers 2 have come and gone… But there’s still District 9, which looks like our best chance at a gritty, Children of Men style sci-fi flick we’ll get all year. This second trailer features much more action, including aliens in mech suits, which I confess, I did not see coming. I wonder if the film will continue the social commentary in Blomkamp’s Alive in Joberg or if it will be a straight up action flick… Also looks like some interesting police work being done — is Blomkamp a fan of The Wire, I wonder?

Daybreakers: In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Too bad they’re running out of blood.

First Impressions: If seeing Willem Dafoe say, “We’re the folks with the crossbows” doesn’t get you stoked for some vampire hunting, you may be undead. It hits January 8, 2010.

Day One: NBC’s midseason sci-fi show chronicles a global catastrophe from the perspective of the residents of a southern California apartment complex.

First Impressions: Along with ABC’s V, sci-fi fans will have another life-after-invasion drama with this series, although this trailer doesn’t seem to make clear what the possible alien threat is… If this show avoids disaster movie sensationalism and gives us some good character drama, NBC may have something to pull it out of the ratings basement. Or, of course, it could go the way of almost every other sci-fi show on the network (*ahem* Kings*) and be cancelled after one season.