Neill Blomkamp shot out of the gate in 2009 with District 9, a thought-provoking science fiction film with incredibly realistic special effects only matched by real world political subtext. The film earned him a Best Picture nomination, and had everybody wondering what he could do next with a bigger budget and more stars flocking to work with him. The result is Elysium, and Blomkamp has done a bang up job of keeping the production hidden from us. However, with the film set to have a presence at Comic-Con next week, info is starting to leak out.
The first image of a bald-headed, bad ass Matt Damon in the film has been released, and frankly he looks like a refugee from Reign of Fire. He's rockin' some sort of cybernetic arm thingy, and a gun nearly as big as he is. "ChemRail" might be the company that makes the weapon, but I'm going to pull from my comic book knowledge and assume it's a railgun that disperses a chemical agent. Call it a hunch.
Whereas District 9 tackled issues of apartheid and racial segregation, Elysium is dealing with the immigration debate. Oooh, maybe I can sit in on a screening with Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio? Eh, probably not. Anyway, the film takes place in 2159 where humanity is roughly divided into two classes. The rich live on a pristine, man-made space station called Elysium. The less fortunate struggle to survive on an overpopulated, ruined Earth, and are constantly attempting to leave their meager confines. Damon plays Max, a soldier who is forced into a dangerous mission that may bring about equality to the people. Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Diego Luna, William Fichtner, Alice Braga, and Wagner Moura will co-star when Elysium hits theaters on March 1st 2013.
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