Director Neill Blomkamp made it big with his Sci-fi flick District 9, the mockumentary style film which integrated a classic alien invasion story with themes of social segregation. Made with his friend and collaborator Sharlto Copley, it was a remake of their ambitious short film Alive in Joburg which became a launching pad for their careers into mainstream Hollywood.
Watch Alive in Joburg here:
Now the two are re-teaming for the Sci-Fi flick Elysium, a story set in the far future on another planet which will similarly combine sociopolitical themes set against a pseudo realistic backdrop with Blomkamp’s jaw dropping CG visuals.
The film has already attracted major talent to the project, in early December Matt Damon was in negotiations to star, now the director has gotten Jodie Foster to commit to the project.
Neill Blomkamp had this to say about his latest Sci-Fi:
I’ve got one science fiction idea that I’m absolutely in love with, which I’m pretty sure is going to be my next film. 99% sure…It’s totally original, it’s my own story…It’s set on another planet, but it’s cool. It’s violent, very violent, and very unique hopefully. We’ll see.
The film is being shopped around to the big studios by Media Rights Capital, which means that production doesn’t yet have the greenlight, but with the talent on board it’s just a matter of time. Nikki Finke over at Deadline has been told by an insider that there’s a lot of interest in the project, ‘ Neil is taking meetings all over town.There is a lot of interest from every studio’, his presentation of the project also includes a graphic novel.
The film was to have started production in 2010 and a viral video went online credited to Blomkamp to ramp up interest in the film’s theme.
The video was released on the iPad version of the Wired Magazine, and shows an amateur recording of two young men finding a dead mutated creature with a tattooed seal on its side that reads “18.12 AGM Heartland Pat. Pend. USA”. Interestingly ‘AGM Heartland’ was trademarked for an entertainment-oriented website.
The mysterious plot of Elysium is being kept under wraps with a release set for sometime in 2013. Simon Kinberg is producing.
Check out the Wired Magazine viral promo here:
via: Deadline Sci-fi Mafia
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