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FIRST LOOK

First Real Photo of Matt Damon in Neill Blomkamp's 'Elysium' Found

by Alex Billington
July 4, 2012
Source: JoBlo

So what's a "ChemRail" and when can I get one to put on my wall? With news that Neill Blomkamp's latest under-wraps, secretive sci-fi project Elysium will be giving Comic-Con attendees a glimpse next week, I'm getting the feeling it's finally time to crack open the ice on this and let out whatever is within. I've been keeping an eye on the old viral site called Armadyne.net from last year (no new updates yet), but now a new photo has popped up courtesy of JoBlo. It looks to be a magazine scan, but it's an official still of Matt Damon in some robotic gear, in a pose reminiscent of this shot of Sharlto from District 9. Check this out!

Here's the only official shot of Damon from Elysium, updated in high res. I'm definitely interested so far.

So what is Elysium about? Well the official synopsis states: In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard the 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 Max (Matt Damon) 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. However, I think there is more to it.

Word is that Neill Blomkamp's Elysium involves a futuristic world with robots, and focuses on the idea of robotic manipulation and enhancement, as we see here. Damon has some sort of robotic attachment on his arm, and you can see in other set photos that it extends all the way down the right side of his body to his leg. There's still a very heavy socio-political plot, which is what Damon gets in the middle of. Other than that, I'm very curious to see what they show at Comic-Con, and what other reveals come with it (Armadyne?). Sony/Columbia has Elysium scheduled for March 1st, 2013 next year, we'll be sure to keep you updated.

Filed under First Look, Hype, Photos, SciFi

From around the web:

http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Staunton/1748906748 Stephen Staunton

Looks fucking badass! Wonder why Damon's character needs an exoskeleton though?
- Jericho
  
  probably the same reason anyone would want a SARCOTH/RATHION XOSII POWERED SKELETON SYSTEM ATTACHMENT...to be able to carry up to 150lbs while simultaneously replacing the wheelchair...although this is 2159 so this is probably Lockheed/martins HULC variant...
Reznik

I wish I could go to Comic Con...
http://j-run.ca/blog Jay Runham

I don't know what's going on here, but I'm in.
geoffcbassett

Come on Blomkamp, knock this one out of the park!
Movie screener

Saw this at a sneak screening and it was just terrible. Let me count the reasons why. 1. Jodie Foster has a TERRIBLE French accent that makes her sound like she was eating peanut butter every scene. 2. This "ruined Earth look" just looks like a crappy version of Tijuana. 3. Sharlto's character has a stupid European accent that he can't seem to control. He slips between an Irish accent and some sort of British sounding accent. 4. The plot is all over the place. First it starts out like a space action movie, then it try's to be like District 9, then it turns into a romance then into a political movie with tiny doses of not so great action scenes. It was one of the only screenings I've ever walked out of
- http://www.facebook.com/TheSweetieMan Chris Bob
  
  You're the first person I've seen give the film a negative reaction. I've been able to talk to a handful of people that attended private screenings and not only were their reactions positive, but it was nothing short of superlative praise. Blomkamp has never disappointed. Obviously, he has only one feature film under his belt, but all of his short films were fantastic. Something tells me this movie, similar to 'District 9', will be primarily aimed at "genre" audiences who are more privy to science fiction movies like 'RoboCop' or 'Total Recall' than the more accessible, glossy summer blockbusters that come out today. Plus, Sony seems to have a lot of faith in the movie, as they recently invested more money to shoot some new scenes a couple months ago.
- Other screener
  
  I saw it as well. Not terrible at all. Foster was great, her accent is fine. She's a spitting image of Christine Lagarde, the President of the IMF, former french Minister of Finance. Regarding ruined Earth (or really LA): does look like Tijuana, but looks good. Sharlto's accent is S. African in the film; hard to understand at times, but nothing 'wrong' with it - it just is. I didn't come close to walking out of the film.
  - http://www.facebook.com/TheSweetieMan Chris Bob
    
    How were the action sequences in the film? I read that Blomkamp built some propriety rigs for a lot of the action, which Steven Soderbergh marveled over.
    - Other screener
      
      I'd rather not say out of respect for the filmmakers and co. Per the their wishes, I don't want the public's opinion to be tainted by the opinions of people who saw it early and unfinished. I felt the need to rebut "movie screeners'" opinion with my own only to provide balance.
      - http://www.facebook.com/TheSweetieMan Chris Bob
        
        Can at least confirm whether or not you enjoyed it?
- firstshower
  
  Jodie Foster speaks fluent French, so I imagine she knows what a French accent sounds like. And anytime someone claims "I walked out" you can pretty much bet they're blowing smoke.
  - Jericho
    
    oh no he walked out...once the credits rolled......
DAVIDPD

Nice catch. Looks cool.
http://profiles.google.com/snears Nick Sears

well you know the firefights are going to be visceral as hell
Ehsan Davodi

Tough , Involving , Disturbful hElysium
http://twitter.com/bnt0 brian thomson

When I see "Chemrail", I think they're taking the mickey out the "Chemtrail" conspiracists, actually. "LIsten, sucker, the chemicals aren't way up there in the sky, they're right here. In your face. Any questions?"
David

I cannot wait for Blomkamp's new movie! i'm excited!
http://shiftlocal.wordpress.com/ Marc Callado

Digging the robotic arm. What does it do..extra strength, aim bot?
Joey Jo Jo Shabadoo

The description sounds like the basic story line from battle angel Alita. They just made the lead character male. Someone obviously got tired of waiting for the James Cameron Battle Angel Film?
- John
  
  James Cameron is busy with making money by Avatarz and he don't care about his fans and Alita anymore.this is better a genius director like Blomkamp make the movie.
Outlaw

Wow, before I read the title of the article, I thought, "Hey, Ray Liotta shaved his head..." Looking forward to the movie though.
Chris_G

District 9 was just a mess of a film that tried to cover up it's shortcomings by 'switching narrative styles' from documentary handheld camera style to a more traditional film style whenever it seemed to fit better. It also tried to earn low-brow 'cool' points with things like a gun that makes things explode. I wasn't impressed by all of that. The ultra-grit style has been done to death. I can't believe Blomkamp was who they were going to let direct the Halo film.
- Alan
  
  Shhhh...it's gonna be okay.
- Squiggly_P
  
  The two camera styles are your POV for each segment of the film. The documentary segments are giving you the human take on the situation and are thus colored by the human view of the aliens. In those segments, the aliens act very stupid and animalistic while the humans portray themselves as trying to do what's best for the aliens, helping them to integrate, etc. It's the aliens' fault that they can't get along in our society. In the more film-like segments you see the aliens' POV, where the humans are sadistic and cruel, murdering them for no real reason. I agree that the film has it's issues, tho. I'm not a huge fan of how it focuses so heavily on action at the end. I wish they had put a bit more focus on the second or third generation prawn who would probably have had more of a desire to integrate, as they'd consider Earth their home. I would have liked to have seen at least some hint of that going on. The film is not dumb, tho. It's a bit basic, really, but it's not dumb. Halo movie. Yeah. Cause the world needs another Battleship.
Keith

Made a fan poster for this! http://keith27th.deviantart.com/art/Elysium-312919795
ignorants

stupid american sheepy dooshes, it says chemtrail, or do you think the little arrow intersection after chem isn't a T. Before criticising conspiracy believers, look in the mirror and look if you are really awake, it doesn't hurt to ask yourself some out of the box questions. Or do you rather keep in line with the rest of the sheeple, Chaplin and Orwell weren't conspirators but bright awake people with an artistic gift. They wanted to awake you dooshes, but when you don't want to see the obvious that's in front of you don't come crying when you finally see that your beloved government screws you every day in every way! The skies are not the same as they were in a not so distant past, and global warming farce nor the higher frequency of normal airplanes in the air are the cause of this.
- http://twitter.com/mav_ian Ian Howlett
  
  You are a fucking idiot.