Following his impeccable feature debut with District 9, this summer will see the return of Neill Blomkamp behind the camera for one of the most anticipated films of the year, Elysium.
The film is just a few short weeks from hitting the multiplex across the Atlantic, and if you saw last month’s awesome new trailer, then you should be just as excited as we are for its arrival.
Sony look set to have one of the best films of the blockbuster season on their hands, and they’ve released Part 1 of a great new featurette, via Yahoo Movies, in which we get to see Blomkamp and leading man Matt Damon talk about working alongside Weta to create the look and feel of some of the film’s technology.
The impoverished inhabitants of a ruined planet Earth fight to join the safe and pristine living conditions of the space station Elysium, where only the wealthy and healthy reside. In need of medical treatment only available on Elysium, one resident of the planet’s slums attempts to reach the space station at any cost, and his actions could offset the entire balance of haves and have-nots.
Damon is joined by a stellar cast, led by Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner, Diego Luna, Alice Braga, and Faran Tahir.
Blomkamp is once more directing from his own script, with Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class) producing.
Weta are of course the creative team behind the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Hobbit, Blomkamp’s District 9, 30 Days of Night, King Kong, and many, many more. Having worked with the director on his first film, it’s nice to see the creative teams reuniting for Blomkamp’s sophomore feature.
Elysium will be released in regular and IMAX theatres on August 9th in the States, with its UK release date following a little later on 20th September. I’m gutted that we’ve got to wait about a month and a half before it hits our shores, but everything we’ve seen so far says that it’s going to be well worth it. Here’s the latest featurette to whet your appetites.
