'Elysium' - a film by Neill Blomkamp - March 1st, 2013.
 

Well, despite having about two years to go before this film has its official theatrical release, viral marketing has got under way for 'Elysium'-- the second major feature film for Neill Blomkamp, who directed 'District 9', which is probably the best sci-fi action movie in a decade and arguably the best blockbuster action movie in years. While details remain scarce for 'Elysium', filming begins next Monday in Vancouver B.C-- filming from July 28th through September 25th and then shifting its filming location to Mexico City, where its shooting dates are currently unknown. The only details known about 'Elysium' so far is that Matt Damon will star, with a supporting cast featuring: Sharlto Copley ('District 9'), Jodie Foster ('The Silence of the Lambs'), Wagner Moura ('Elite Squad'), Alice Braga ('Predators'), Diego Luna ('Y Tu Mamá También'), William Fitchner ('Heat'), Taliso Soto ('Mortal Kombat'), and rumored: Adrian Holmes ('Battlestar Galactica'). Neill Blomkamp wrote the screenplay and Syd Mead will serve as production designer. For those of you unfamiliar with Syd Mead, he is only the most renowned visual futurist worldwide. He's famous for his set designs on the film 'Blade Runner' - as well as being the designer for both the Turn A Gundam and Turn X Gundam, as well as the preliminary designer for Harry Ode's MRC-F20 SUMO.

Other minor details known: the film takes place 150 years into the future; two cities will act as themselves (looks like Vancouver and Mexico City), and Jodie Foster's character plays as a head of state for an alien planet. Social class will figure into the story - as Neill is known for using allegorical references in his work. The film will feature all the futuristic gadgets and weaponry -- and according to Neill himself, the movie will be "violent. Very violent." The biggest surprise here is, the film is estimated to have a budget of $120 million, but some reports say it's $40 million-- and Neill has already stated it will be R rated; Sony will be the studio distributing this film worldwide, much like they did for 'District 9.'

Anyway, here is Matt Damon's new look for the film:

Along with the shaved head, it looks like Damon is sporting a fake tattoo - probably for the movie as well. His character is also rumored to be an ex-convict.

Anyway, tonight at Comic-Con International is where 'Elysium' really got off the ground -- showing up with this poster: which leads to this website: http://armadyne.net/

So while all the kiddie comic book adaptions are having their day in the sun - it won't be long til' modest budgeted sci-fi blockbuster action movie aimed at ADULTS finally comes along. :cool:

Sounds awesome already.

Now we just have to hope that the world doesn't end in 2012, else we won't get to enjoy this film in theatres...

That being said, the budget of 120$ million seems a bit large. Blomkamp did wonders with 30$ million, so a budget 4x that size could be a bit much for him (having a lot of money can sometimes be just as bad as having too little money)...

Additionally, while it is unknown currently if this will be part of Elysium, Blomkamp did release this fun little video in 2010:

Finally, news of a movie for today that doesn't suck. At least to my knowledge so far...

I loved Neil Blomkamp, and he was rather unknown up until District 9, which was an amazing sci fi movie. And if he's putting in this much of a budget into this new movie, Elysium, then I have no reason to doubt why this movie will come anything short of awesome.

I have high hopes for this, and I'll be looking more into it once more info for it comes out.

What helps Blomkamp is his background in VFX -- being a graduate in that field from Vancouver Film School, which is one of the most renowned film schools in the world. He actually came up with some early renderings of the MNU vehicles for D9, as well as contributing to the mothership, which is actually uncommon for a director (to take part in the concept art production, that is). Anyway, he certainly made a $30 million budget look like a $100 million budget -- and the fact that he's shooting in two countries with no tax credit - expect more of the same. Blomkamp is a very visually gifted director, and I'm not even speaking just in terms of action. He takes a very respectable approach to every shot he frames.

Anyway, $120 million doesn't guarantee a great film, but I'll tell you one thing... there's no other blockbuster director I'd trust more with that type of budget than Blomkamp, except for James Cameron.

Oh, and as for his AGM Heartland video - some people actually think it's foreshadowing for his film following 'Elysium' -- which is currently titled 'Chappie' - part of a multi-film deal he has with MRC right now.

Right on.

'District 9' was a return to hard-edge sci-fi action. His style is like a modernized clash of Paul Verhoeven and David Cronenberg. This is the guy that has the potential to breath new life into a fading genre.

I like Armadyne, I have to say. I'm also glad to see Sharon Copley returning to make another film with Blomkamp. Though I'm not so sure about him using "big names" like Foster or Damon, then again those are big name actors with substance behind them so I suppose it's not a bad decision.

Anyway, I'm certainly excited about all the details currently floating around about this film. Blomkamf is great with a budget and he has even more to work with, and he's still working outside the "Hollywood system" which is also great.

'Elysium' is actually budgeted at $40 million.
 

So an article coming out of Vancouver today finally provides some new info on 'Elysium.' As it turns out, Deadline's initial reports of this film being budgeted at $120 million could be wrong. This film will apparently only have a budget of about $40 million (if this article is right), which is only $10 million more than what 'District 9' had.

Here are some key quotes from the article:

http://www.theprovince.com/entertain...833/story.html

"Elysium films in Vancouver until the end of September, on a budget estimated at close to $40 million, with additional filming set for Mexico."

"Clarke is back with Blomkamp for the new film." - Julian Clarke edited 'District 9.'

"Also on Elysium's home team is Vancouver cinematographer Trent Opaloch, who drew raves for his work on District 9, as well as a team of computer artists from Image Engine." - Image Engine did the prawns in 'District 9.'

"Word on the fan sites is that the movie is set in a near future fraught with Anglo- Hispanic racial tensions, and aliens are involved. And as we've seen around town, Damon has his head shaved for his role."

""Vancouver is where I plan on doing most of my stuff, unless the story requires explicitly a very specific location." - Blomkamp stating that he'd like most of his films to be done in Vancouver, kinda similar to what Cronenberg used to do.

I think it's pretty cool that a lot of the people who put 'District 9' together are all back on board, but that's not really surprising. What IS surprising is that the budget is supposedly only $40 million, while Sony paid $120 million for distribution rights. There were MAJOR rumors coming out of Deadline, Collider, Bloody Disgusting, etc, etc. that this movie was going to exceed $100 million in budget, but I guess they might be wrong. It won't bother me if the budget ends up being higher, but seeing how this is apparently an "unabashedly big film"-- it should be interesting to see how Blomkamp pulls this off with yet another modest budget compared to other blockbuster films. All I know is, this guy is the fucking man. He's staying true to his word and hopefully March 2013 gets here real soon, as I'm sure that's the soonest we're going to see a big sci-fi blockbuster made for grown ups. :cool:

Indeed. Though I'm not sure if shifting to Vancouver from his previous haunts of South Africa will be all good. The fact he was doing stuff in South Africa made his output a bit more interesting. Then again, Vancouver is pretty off the beaten track to, but is decidedly more affluent.

The film's setting has a lot to do with it, but Vancouver has the same perks that South Africa does. Hell, most of D9's post-production work happened in Vancouver (the film editing, the prawns being rendered by Image Engine, and other quantity of VFX shots rendered by The Embassy-- also a Vancouver based company). There's significantly less tax credit in that part, so I'm not worried one single bit. :cool:

Plus, you have to look at Mexico City, which will be even cheaper. They'll be shooting there from September through November.

These two locations are important, because the film takes place so far into the future that the set designs will require a lot of skyscrapers and downtown shots. My guess is, a lot of the set designs will feel similar to the city scenery you see in something like 'Mass Effect.'

I don't doubt that it will lead to good movies, but I think doing so much work out of South Africa made his output more unique. In Vancouver it's not such a large distance to Hollywood.

However in the scheme of things, so long as he puts out more good movies I'm not going to care, but I'd hope that he continues to pay attention to the less used parts of the world. For instance, District 9 wouldn't have been quite the same if it had been set in, say, LA or New York rather then Johannesburg.

But Vancouver doesn't exactly receive that much attention from film makers either, but it's not quite as distinctive as Johannesburg.

Well, he really only filmed the short 'Alive in Jo'Burg' and the feature film 'District 9' in South Arica (give or take a couple of commercials as well). Some of his best short film work has come in cities like Shanghai, Vancouver previously, and even certain parts of the States when filming ads for Nike and Gatorade. I understand what you're saying, though. You don't want him to go the complete "Hollywood" route and I share those same sentiments. However, we have to take into consideration that he's a blockbuster director, he won't shy away from that. Hell, I wouldn't want him to. There isn't a better director in Hollywood at the moment that can put together the violent and detailed action sets that this guy does.

Anyway, Vancouver doesn't attract many big time films and even if it did, it wouldn't really bother me. You have to remember-- and I hate to reiterate this, but this film takes place 150 years into the future with all the futuristic tech AND cities. If you've seen 'Blade Runner' then that will give you an idea as to why it's important for him to find a location that gives him the best chance to display these broad set pieces. Plus, it's not like that's the only place this film is taking place in... Mexico City isn't exactly Los Angeles or some other big time glossy city. That place is grime and gritty, almost similar to South Africa. It will all work itself out.

Ultimately, I'm just happy to hear that this guy doesn't need a big time budget even when working with A-list actors like Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. Clearly, this is a guy that knows he doesn't need unnecessary budgets in order to make his concepts work. He's the perfect antidote for the current Hollywood poison, I.E. Michael Bay, Paul WS. Anderson, JJ Abrams, Christopher Nolan, Peter Berg, etc, etc.

http://www.crazycritics.com/pages/el...vie-set-photos

First batch of set photos-- looks like a Mansion is being put together.



Not even two weeks on set and Blomkamp already has Damon looking like a bloody mess. :heh:

TRAILER OUT!
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Doesn't look too good. Visuals are amazing, even the basic premise is okay (even if cliche, its still relevant) but all the action looks so silly, and the core devise looks like a ripoff of a variety of other similar devices. More importantly, it just doesn't look like fun.

So. Much. Halo. Vibe.

Add some armor to that exoskeleton, and you got a Halo Mjolnir.

Doesn't seem bad, I really like Neil Blomkamp sci-fi style.

I didn't get Halo vibe at all. I did get a far more rough version of Mass Effect. With Geth! :D

I'm certainly looking forward to this and Oblivion, but I'm a sci-fi nut, so it doesn't take much to get my juices going there. :)

I will say this for the trailer, it is a very good teaser. While the action looks painfully video game-esque throughout, the fact that we are told very little of the plot is quite nice. Admittedly, it is hard to really rationalize anything we see in the trailer (are we supposed to care about what Damon is doing simply because he is the supposed main character?), but the fact that we are left with a minimal story with little to no details concerning the characters is a bit of a surprise in today's market which often reveals the mirrors before the smoke (I'm also impressed that we've had to wait until April to get the trailer, especially since the movie comes out in only 4 months).

That being said, I do wish the trailer was 30 seconds shorter, and all of the action beats were removed, with the focus entirely on the different worlds and the possible stories that could be told, rather than the action story clearly being told.

The trailer is okay, but I heard that people were more impressed with the 10-minute reel that was shown.

edit: lmao Tetra Vaal

Dynamic tag cannot be rendered. (PrintableThread) 2nd trailer out.

Dynamic tag cannot be rendered. (PrintableThread) A featurette on the droids used throughout the film.
Dynamic tag cannot be rendered. (PrintableThread) A tech featurette.

Kruger featurette.
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