It looks as if Neill Blomkamp will be reteaming with his District 9 star Sharlto Copley for his second feature, Elysium. Like District 9, the new film will contain many sociopolitical ideas combined with Hollywood action film conventions. However, unlike District 9, the film will take place far into the future and on another planet. Other than that, very little is known about the plot of Elysium at the moment and no other cast has been announced. Right now, Blomkamp is looking for a distributor and is reportedly including a graphic novel in his presentations with studios. After the success of District 9, I’m sure that finding distribution won’t be an issue. The budget for the film is also under negotiation. After seeing what Blomkamp did with a $30 million budget, here’s hoping that he’s entrusted with even more this time out.

It’s great to see Copley returning to work with Blomkamp since the two seem to have a solid working relationship. I enjoyed his work in District 9 and, even though I haven’t seen The A-Team yet, Copley looked like a worthy addition to the cast. Although it’s unknown how large a part Copley will play, I would assume it’s a fairly large role based on his past experience with Blomkamp. On a side note, sci-fi seems to be on the rise again with Source Code, the Star Trek sequel, and this film in development, which is a welcome trend in my book. What are your thoughts on Elysium? Do you think Blomkamp will be retreading his previous work based on the short description?