Things are heating up for Neill Blomkamp‘s “Elysium,” the followup to his blockbuster smash “District 9.” Deadline reports that Jodie Foster has signed on, joining the previously announced Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley in what is shaping up to be a very exciting cast.
Plot details are still firmly under wraps, although the film’s set to be another sci-fi film with a sociopolitical subtext, albeit with a bigger budget than “District 9,” thanks to financing from Media Rights Capital, who recently funded the Damon-starring Philip K. Dick adaptation “The Adjustment Bureau.” No distributors are yet on board, but once the cast is fully in place, it will be shopped around, and with Damon and Foster leading the pack, we’re sure interest is going to be sky high.
Needless to say, we’re fans of “District 9” and glad to see Blomkamp avoiding the temptations of going for a comic book or franchise movie, and striking out with another project based on his own material. No word yet if it has anything to do with that mysterious viral video that hit earlier in the winter.
No word yet on when this will shoot, but with Matt Damon shooting Cameron Crowe‘s “We Bought A Zoo” this spring and then Steven Soderbergh‘s “Liberace” in the summer, our guess is an early fall shoot, which means this could be a ways off yet.