Elysium is the next big Sci-Fi flick from director Neill Blomkamp that recently locked in Jodie Foster to star alongside Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley. It’s set a 100 years in the future on another planet and will reportedly combine the social allegory and themes that made District 9 so distinct.
Media Rights Capital who have signed an overall deal with Blomkamp have been shopping the project around to the studios for the last month. The presentation was accompanied by a graphic novel style storyboard which wowed the high level decision makers and this week Sony Pictures decided to finance and distribute the movie for a reported pricetag of $120 million. Sony has a good relationship with the filmmaker after ‘District 9’ made for $30 million became a sleeper hit and grossed $210 million worldwide, as well as getting nominated for Best Picture.
Director Neill Blomkamp issued a statement:
I literally could not be happier. I have a brilliant relationship with Sony. I loved them during District 9, they 100% get this film and they get me. Elysium is in very good hands.
The film will be delivered for the 2012 holiday season and it’s looking to be tent pole movie that should be very profitable for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
‘Elysium’ begins pre-production in April and starts shooting this July in Vancouver before production moves to Mexico City.
As for the look of the movie, it seems the director was a fan of the classic 1982 Sci-Fi thriller Blade Runner, as much as legendary production designer Syd Mead was a fan of ‘District 9’. The 77 year old who also worked on ‘Aliens’ and ‘Tron’, will design the sets for the Sci-Fi movie.
Mead doesn’t do a lot of work on films these days and is reportedly very hard to hire but he was impressed with ‘District 9’ which encouraged him to work on the new film.This is a big indicator that it’s an amazing concept for Mead to return to doing what he does best – designing the future.
‘Elysium’ is shaping up to be an impressive Sci-Fi movie, one to look forward to next year.
Check out this featurette where the visual futurist Syd Mead reflects upon the nature of creativity and how it drives the future in cinema and technology:
via: Deadline Lost in Schlock
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