The first TV spot for District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s new film Elysium has landed online.  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.  The film’s recent theatrical trailer was fantastic, and this TV spot offers up quite a bit more new footage that reveals the sci-fi world that Blomkamp has created.  I’m loving the dichotomy between the clean, expansive visuals of Elysium and the gritty, imperfect Earth, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the full story plays out.

Hit the jump to watch the TV spot.  The film also stars Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura, Diego Luna and William Fichtner.  Elysium opens on August 9th.

Here’s the official synopsis for Elysium:

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. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet’s crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium – but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ luxurious lifestyle. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.