As District 9 director Neill Blomkamp gears up his next project, Elysium, he’s really locking in some top talent to get the movie made. Not content with nabbing the likes of Matt Damon, old mucker Sharlto Copley and (assuming she actually signs on) Jodie Foster, Blomkamp has secured the services of Syd Mead as set designer.
Who he? He's slightly well known thanks to his career: having provided startling visuals for films such as Blade Runner, Aliens, 2010 and the original Tron, among others. According to Deadline, Mead, who doesn’t just work on any old film, liked District 9 to such a degree that he’s happy to collaborate with Blomkamp.
The director has been touring the big studios this week, letting executives read the script and bringing along a storyboard-laden presentation, and now the Heat Vision Blog reports that Sony, which backed District 9, has swept the others aside in a quick deal to land the rights and help with production.
So he now has the cash in place to let him shoot Elysium and is planning to kick off filming in July in Vancouver, before moving on to Mexico City later in the year. If all goes to schedule, he’ll have a finished product to put in cinemas before the end of 2012.
And Deadline has also dug up some new details on the film, noting that it’s epic in scale, is set 100 years in the future and will feature an element of social commentary just as District 9 did.