Director Neill Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley are clearly quite fond of each other, and it appears that they have no plans to severe their professional relationship anytime soon.  The then-unknown South African actor gave a stellar turn in Blomkamp’s fantastic 2009 sci-fi film District 9 and has a supporting role in the director’s next film, the Matt Damon-fronted Elysium, and now EW confirms that Copley will lead Blomakamp’s next next film, the sci-fi comedy Chappie.  Plot details for Blomkamp’s Elysium follow-up are being kept firmly under wraps, but it’s described as a “science-fiction comedy” that takes place in an unusual setting.

Obviously details regarding Copley’s character are also being kept secret, but we do know that he will play the lead.  The actor most recently wrapped the villain role in Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy and a supporting role opposite Angelina Jolie in Disney’s Maleficent.  Production on Chappie will take place in Johannesburg.

From time to time I like to use the opening paragraph to discuss my latest screenprint investments and/or dream items. This week I’m playing a similar note as I recently picked up Olly Moss‘ “Batman’s Rogues Gallery” set on eBay for very close to what the timed edition went for originally. Those of you who follow posters and prints know how redeeming it can be to finally get an item you originally missed out on without having to pay exponentially more than its original asking price. Now, if only Ken Taylor‘s Halloween print would stop being so rare/expensive, I could officially run out of room on my walls.

I’ll stop gushing and leave any more in-depth poster/print talk to our own Limited Paper. For my part, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer and a video blog recap of 10 minutes of footage from Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, our White House Down set visit recap, an exclusive interview with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, the first trailers for Ron Howard‘s Rush, and an extended interview with Mondo CEO Justin Ishmael. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each is ready and waiting for your attention after the jump.

Following on the heels of the debut trailer and poster, Sony Pictures has released eight new images from Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium.  The movie is set in 2159, and two classes of people are divided: the wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, while the rest of the humans inhabit an overpopulated and ruined Earth.  Matt Damon plays a desperate man who must reach Elysium in order to find a cure that will save his life.  I’m digging everything I’m seeing from this film, and with four months until the release date, this is only the tip of the political-sci-fi iceberg.

Hit the jump to check out the images, and click here for Steve’s thoughts on the footage he saw yesterday.  The film also stars Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura, Diego Luna, and William Fichtner.  Elysium opens August 9th.

The first trailer for District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s highly anticipated sci-fi film Elysium has been released.  The story takes place in 2159 where two classes of people are roughly divided: the wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, while the rest of the humans inhabit an overpopulated and ruined Earth.  The trailer begins by showing us the luxurious world of Elysium before revealing the grungy, desert-like Earth.  Blomkamp looks to have crafted an incredibly detailed and vast sci-fi world here, and the visuals are absolutely stunning.  The action sequences look excellent as well and Damon appears to be kicking all kinds of ass, but most importantly Blomkamp has crafted yet another timely, socially-conscious story that speaks volumes to the current issues facing our world.  A wholly original sci-fi property that asks audiences to think while also providing entertainment value in spades?  Count me wholeheartedly in.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here for Steve’s video blog recap after seeing 10 minutes of footage and interviewing Blomkamp.  The film stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner and Diego Luna.  Elysium opens on August 9th.

Did you like District 9?  Imagine if writer-director Neill Blomkamp had 100 million more dollars to play with and access to huge movie stars like Matt Damon and Jodie Foster to help tell his next story.  You’d then have Elysium.

Ever since the movie was first announced, we’ve been covering it here on Collider, including its presence at last year’s Comic-Con.  Since it’s the follow up to a great movie, we’ve definitely had high expectations.  If the ten minutes of footage and the new trailer that I watched today at the Arclight in Hollywood are any indications, not only will our lofty expectations be met, they’ll be exceeded by far.  We might be talking about the film of the summer.  Continued after the jump.

After a screening of some footage from his upcoming sci-fi feature Elysium, writer/director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) talked about other projects he has varying levels of involvement in.  He touched on his learning experience with the defunct Halo picture, possible sequels to his breakout film District 9 and his stance on directing original material, sequels to his own films and adapting popular properties.  Blomkamp also teased a bit about iconic cinematic characters that he would love to get his hands on but is a bit too apprehensive about taking them on completely.

Hit the jump to see what he had to say and be sure to check back later for more on this special event for Elysium, due out August 9th.

Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) reports that he’s just about finished up on Elysium and is starting to move forward with his third feature, a sci-fi comedy titled Chappie.  Starring Matt Damon (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Jodie Foster (Contact), Elysium takes place in a dystopian future where the elite of humanity have fled to orbiting space stations while the poor are left to eke out an existence on a ruined Earth.  Look for the film starting August 9th.

In the meantime, Blomkamp is prepping a return to Johannesburg for principal photography on Chappie, which he co-wrote with his wife, Teri Tatchell.  Hit the jump for more on both projects. 

Let’s all do the release date shuffle, courtesy of Sony!

• RoboCop, the Jose Padilha-directed remake starring Joel Kinnaman, has been bumped from its August 9th, 2013 spot to February 7th, 2014.
• Taking over the former RoboCop spot will be Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, starring Matt Damon.  The picture moves from March 1st, 2013 to August 9th, 2013. (Fun fact: Blomkamp’s District 9 was released that same week in 2009.)
• Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers will move up from its previous spot of February 7th, 2014 to September 27th, 2013.  The animated feature will land on roughly the same weekend as this year’s hit, Hotel Transylvania.
• Pixels, the Happy Madison production based on an 8-bit French short, is listed as “in development” and won’t make a 2014 release, though it was previously pegged for May 17, 2013.

Hit the jump for more on each of these pictures. 

While at Comic-Con to do a big Hall H presentation, Elysium director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) spoke to press about the highly anticipated but very mysterious sci-fi film, for the first time. The filmmaker described it as being “about an orbital space station that has the rich living on it, while Earth is diseased and has been left behind.”

During the interview, Blomkamp talked about the themes he’s addressing in the film, what he thinks the world might really be like so far into the future, working with a bigger budget this time around, and why it’s taken three years for him to get another film out. He also talked about another film that he’s written, which is a sci-fi comedy called Chappie, about a robot character, and how he feels about higher frame rates and 2D versus 3D. Check out what he had to say after the jump. Also, check out our recap of the Comic-Con panel.

Neill Blomkamp‘s District 9 was an amazing feature film debut, and whatever he chose to do next would demand the attention of all the fans he amassed in 2009, myself included.  His new film, Elysium, had been cloaked in mystery until a synopsis recently appeared online.  I was even more intrigued after reading the synopsis, and Elysium was easily one of my most-anticipated movies of Comic-Con 2012.  And the presentation didn’t disappoint.

Hit the jump to check out the recap, and click here for all of our Comic-Con coverage.

With Joss Whedon’s Firefly reunion panel being one of the most well-received Comic-Con events in recent memory, some of the director’s other works may have been overshadowed for a moment.  It takes quite a bit to drown out The Avengers, so a perfect question for Whedon would be to ask about the status of The Avengers 2 and whether or not he’ll be back for the sequel.  More on that after the jump.

Another visionary director in the person of Neill Blomkamp (District 9) was on hand at Comic-Con today to showcase his current project, Elysium.  While we’ll have more on the Matt Damon-starrer in a bit, Blomkamp did comment on his upcoming projects, including a sequel to District 9.  Hit the jump to read more about what’s next from Whedon and Blomkamp and be sure to stay up to date with our continuing Comic-Con coverage here.

Walking the floor here at Comic-Con 2012 can be a daunting task, but there are many worthwhile booths and cool finds scattered throughout.  Though the flashier parts of Sony’s set-up feature vehicles from Total Recall and Looper, one of the pieces that I found most intriguing was a piece of viral marketing for Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming sci-fi film Elysium.  The story takes place on a futuristic Earth that’s overpopulated and ruined.  The wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, and as with District 9 Blomkamp is obviously tackling larger social issues against this sci-fi backdrop.

At the Sony booth, there’s an “automated” border checkpoint agent that’s available to answer questions regarding relocating to Elysium.  They also have brochures that advertise your ability to purchase property on Elysium for the low, low price of $250,000,000!  It’s a really cool tie-in to the film, and you can check out images of the border agent as well as the brochure after the jump, as well as images of a vehicle from the film here.  Starring Matt Damon and Jodi Foster, Elysium opens on March 1st, 2013. 

The Collider team is currently assembling here in sunny San Diego for Comic-Con 2012, and downtown’s transformation into Geek Heaven is well underway.  Studios are plastering every free surface with marketing for their upcoming films, as evidence by Steve’s batch of photos from around the area yesterday.  Today he was able to snap some images of a set up for District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s highly anticipated sci-fi film Elysium, including the first poster we’ve seen thus far and a really cool vehicle from the film.

Starring Matt Damon and Jodi Foster, the film is set in the year 2159. Two classes of people are roughly divided: the wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, while the rest of the humans inhabit an overpopulated and ruined Earth.  As with District 9, Blomkamp is again tackling issues of greater importance than explosions and lasers, as the synopsis hints at a look into the immigration debate.  Hit the jump to check out the Comic-Con images, and check back for our full recap of the Elysium panel on Friday.  The film opens on March 1st, 2013.

We’ve known very little about director Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to 2009’s District 9, the sci-fi pic Elysium, until recently.  The only images we’ve seen are a few set photos of a bald Matt Damon wearing some device on his chest from last year, but now the first official image of Damon in the film has landed online.  Just as District 9 tackled issues of segregation and xenophobia, the first synopsis for Elysium reveals that the sci-fi, future-set story will be delving into the immigration debate.  Set in 2159, two classes of people are roughly divided: the wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium, while the rest of the humans inhabit an overpopulated and ruined Earth.

I have no clue as to what this gun and Damon’s garb could be hinting at plotwise, but with the first footage set to be unveiled next week at Comic-Con we’ll hopefully have a much clearer picture of what to expect from Elysium soon.  The film also stars Jodi Foster, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner and Diego Luna, and opens on March 1st, 2013.

Though he spent a few years developing the high profile Halo film that never came to be, director Neill Blomkamp burst onto the film scene in a big way with his stellar 2009 sci-fi pic District 9.  Not only did the film include some truly killer effects work, but it was actually about something and tackled social issues like segregation and xenophobia on a sci-fi platform.  It’s been three long years since District 9 opened, and fans are eagerly awaiting Blomkamp’s follow-up, the futuristic thriller Elysium.  Plot details have been firmly under wraps, but we know that it fits squarely into the sci-fi genre and stars Matt Damon, Jodi Foster, Wagner Moura, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner and Diego Luna.

A full synopsis for Elysium has been brought to our attention, giving us a much better idea of what to expect.  The film is apparently screening for preview audiences tonight and the ticket includes a fairly detailed logline for the pic.  As with District 9, it appears that Elysium will also be dealing with grander issues than space guns and aliens.  Hit the jump to read the synopsis.  Elysium is slated to open on March 1st, 2013.