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.

One of my most-anticipated films of the year is Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium.  The film was originally slated to open in March, but Sony Pictures decided to put it in the summer movie season, so we’re going to have to wait a little longer.  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 definitely looks like it will carry on the smart, blockbuster sci-fi Blomkamp created with District 9, and hopefully we’ll see a trailer soon.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura, and William Fichtner.  Elysium opens August 9th.

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. 

An indie biopic of legendary filmmaker Federico Fellini is moving forward and writer/director Henry Bromell (Homeland) has assembled himself quite the cast.  Variety reports that Elite Squad star Wagner Moura will play the famed director in Fellini Black and White, while Peter Dinklage, William H. Macy, and Terrence Howard are set to co-star.  Instead of being your run of the mill all-encompassing biopic, the film centers on a specific period in Fellini’s life.  The story is set in Los Angeles in March of 1957, and takes place during the 48 hours that Fellini went missing right before attending the Academy Awards.  Hit the jump for more.

I like to dream of an alternate universe where Drive Angry did well at the box office and stardom finally comes to terrific character actor William Fichtner.  Sadly, I don’t live in that universe, but that doesn’t mean Fichtner’s disappearing into obscurity.  Variety reports that Fichtner is in talks to join Contact co-star Jodie Foster as well as Matt Damon, Wagner Moura, and Sharlto Copley in Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium.  Details on the plot remain under wraps, but the story takes place in the distant future on another planet.  The film will also feature the kind of social allegory of Blomkamp’s breakthrough film District 9 but on a much larger scale.

Elysium is due out March 8, 2013.

Wagner Moura, best known for his work in the Brazilian action films Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2, has joined Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharlto Copley in Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium.  Latino Review broke the story and Heat Vision adds that Moura’s character has “a crazy sense of humor.”  HV also says that Damon will play an ex-con and that social class figures into the story, which is set 100 years in the future and on another planet.  Blomkamp says that the film is also “violent, very violent, and very unique, hopefully.”  Sony picked up Elysium in January to the tune of $120 million and plans to release the film in late 2012.

The Elite Squad films have been a massive success in Brazil and Elite Squad 2 holds the box office record in the country over Hollywood fare.  Their director, Jose Padilha, recently entered talks to direct MGM’s remake of Robocop. [Update: Heat Vision reports that Elysium has been set for a March 8th, 2013 release date].