When I last covered Elysium, Neil Blomkamp’s next film, the only sure thing in the cast was Sharlto Copley. Thing is, anybody would have guess he’d be in the film, considering he’s Blomkamp’s boy and all. Now though, Deadline brings news that Jodie Foster hopped onto the project joining Matt Damon and the aforementioned Sharlto. Damon is news to me, though he’s been attached a little longer than Ms. Foster, who’s adding this to her post-Beaver slate (punk band name?) along with Roman Polanski’s God of Carnage.
Unfortunately there’s still no word on just what the hell Elysium is about, but I’m betting on Blomkamp and co. going for the hush-hush, low-key approach and keeping a lid on it as long as possible. Sharlto didn’t have anything concerning the film to speak up about during our A-Team interview. That said, the cast is blossoming nicely and the bigger the names involved, the harder it will be for them to keep the spotlight pointed elsewhere.
As I mentioned when Copley was confirmed, Elysium is a region on mars, a state of paradise above the dead, and an “abode of the blessed” depending on the mythology/dictionary you enjoy, so there’s all kinds of places Blomkamp could be taking the concept. What hints one or more of these definitions give us about the story is still shrouded in mystery, until we get some kind of hint, rumor, or whisper.
It might not be too long before such a hint emerges though. Expect questions to fly in Foster’s face about the film, once she really starts banging out there with for her Beaver.