District 9, the summer sci-fi underdog, is one of the most-wanted DVD releases of the holiday season. Originally set for the 29th, it will actually hit stores (on DVD and Blu-Ray) on December 22nd – perfect for last-minute shoppers.

District 9, directed and co-written by VFS alumni and featuring over 40 grads on the visual effects team, was certainly one of the highlights of our year, and it’s nice to see that the critics agree. For starters, this morning it was revealed that 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Neill Blomkamp and Writing for Film & Television grad Terri Tatchell have been nominated for a Golden Globe (Best Screenplay).

The film has also been nominated for four Satellite Awards (given out by the International Press Academy on December 20th) – including noms for Best Director (Blomkamp) and another for Best Adapted Screenplay (Blomkamp and Tatchell). It also scored nominations for Editing and Visual Effects.

Blomkamp himself has already been handed a couple of notable critics’ awards – the New Generation Award from the LA Film Critics Association, and the Boston Film Critics Award for Best New Filmmaker.

District 9‘s DVD and Blu-Ray releases include all the special features you could want, including a commentary track from Blomkamp and several making-of featurettes. Can’t wait!