Neill Blomkamp has been teasing the Comic-Con crowd with 7-minutes of the highly anticipated ELYSIUM. The DISTRICT 9 writer and director showed off some “incredibly rough” at San Diego and has said that although he’s not always happy with the marketing side of movies (i.e. Money-grabbing execs), he’s happy to have show snippets, specifically at SDCC because “It’s a true, honest thing. There are no lies about it. It’s completely about want to seeing cool footage.”
According to reports, the clips showed an over-populated world with the rich, living in a space station orbiting the Earth. It also showed Matt Damon, as a slum steel worker, having to fight his way against robots and mechanical devices. THN have heard that what impressed audiences the most, is the sheer scale and depth that’s gone into the design and realisation of this dystopian world.
At the SDCC panel, with ELYSIUM ‘villain’ Sharlto Copley, co-star Jodie Foster and producer Simon Kinberg, Matt Damon had this to say about the project and the work behind it that Blomkamp showed him:
“It was in such incredible detail. So arresting. And there was a whole corresponding book on weaponry and a whole book on vehicles. I had never seen anything like it, but it was completely familiar to me.” He continued “After I saw District 9, if Neill had called me and said ‘This is Neill Blomkamp, do you want to be in my next movie?’, I would’ve said yes.”
Damon also recalls when he and Copley filmed in Mexico City on second largest rubbish tip in the world and the problems that occurred:
“We would be black with dust. And we would look at each other and say, ‘This is fecal matter,’” he said. “And Neill would come over, take off his maks, and say, ‘I promise you, the photography looks great!’”
Blomkamp also admitted that although he does use a lot of green-screen and CGI for creatures, it’s important that it doesn’t detract from the actors and the most important part of the film, the narrative:
“The situation that gets more dangerous if there’s acting against a digital creature. Anything non-human…” he said, acknowledging a tennis ball that stands-in for a later creation “…that’s where you can run into trouble.”
We’re looking forward to seeing what they’ve done with ELYSIUM. Check out the – just kicked-off – viral campaign and that first shot of Matt Damon looking ready for anything. ELYSIUM also stars William Fitchner, Wagner Moura, Alice Braga and opens on March 1, 2013. For the official synopsis, scroll down:
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy “Coordinators,” people who can afford bio-genetic engineering, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, built by the Armadyne Corporation, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a hard government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky ex-con Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
Source: THR/ComicBookMovie/EW
