VIRAL NEWS

It's Better Up There - 'Elysium' Viral Restarts with Citizenship Initiative

by Alex Billington
July 12, 2012

"You won't find a better home on Earth!" Finally, the long-awaited viral for Elysium has started up again, and they're hitting Comic-Con hard. Last year, we discovered a viral site (visit it here) for Neill Blomkamp's new movie for a company called Armadyne, but there were no updates on it. Things have just started back up here at Comic-Con, as totally expected, with a full-page flyer found at the Sony Pictures booth on the showfloor (good photos of it below). It links to a new page called simply "It's Better Up There" that forwards to the "Elysium Citizenship Initiative" page, which is a new user sign-up for this viral. More info below.

It all begins with a rather awkward, plastic-looking "Elysium border checkpoint" figure at the Sony booth. This must be part of the futuristic world in the movie that's primarily divided between Elysium, a "luxury" space station with strict anti-immigration laws, and the overpopulated ruined Earth where everyone else lives. The flyers found there and the new website they link to include lots of basic information about a luxurious life and how to apply in this initiative to become a citizen of Elysium. Interesting, very interesting, I love the socio-political connection already. Here's the border checkpoint booth (photo via ComingSoon):

Here's a closer look at the Elysium viral flyer handed out. It's two sided, so we've included both pages. The primary link is to itsbetterupthere.com, but I also checked in on Armadyne.net as well, and that site has been updated with new info and a login at the top of the page. If you didn't already notice, the Citizenship Initiative website has quite a few Armadyne mentions/logos, so it's definitely all linked together. I suggest exploring the site, registering, and checking in for more details. This is certainly only just the start of things.

"Welcome to the Elysium Citizenship Initiative. Elysium has been offering a luxury alternative to life on Earth since the year 2097. Elysium continues to maintain strict border control in order to preserve its exceptional standard of living. However, thanks to the Elysium Citizenship Initiative, you now have the opportunity to apply for travel to Elysium." This sounds like the start of the end of Elysium. Register now.

Neill Blomkamp's Elysium plot focuses on Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hardened government official, who will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. However, 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. Sony/Columbia has Elysium scheduled to hit theaters on March 1st, 2013. We've got seven more months to build up this viral.

Find more posts: Comic-Con 12, Movie News, Sci-Fi, Viral Marketing

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