When word broke yesterday that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp had been meeting with studios about his follow up, Elysium, Deadline‘s Mike Fleming predicted “I don’t think it’s going to take long to sell.” And sell it did.
Yesterday afternoon Blomkamp and Columbia Pictures, the studio that released Blomkamp’s debut feature District 9, came to an agreement that has the studio investing approximately $120 million to handle worldwide distribution for the picture. That’s quite a leap from the $30 million Blomkamp had to work with previously.
Blomkamp delivered a statement, saying “I literally could not be happier. I have a brilliant relationship with Sony. I loved them during District 9, they 100% get this film and they get me. Elysium is in very good hands.”
The film, set 100 years in the future, will star Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and District 9‘s Sharlto Copley. Sources say Elysium features a social allegory similar to his $210 million worldwide grosser, which also went on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
Blade Runner set designer Syd Mead has signed on for such duties for the film, which will begin production in July in Vancouver before moving to Mexico City in the fall. Mead works only sporadically, but he was so impressed with District 9 that he agreed to jump on board.
Fleming calls the project a “tent pole-sized proposition,” but a fully realized one like Inception that the studio can pencil into its release calendar. The date in question is Christmas 2012, which has me thinking this could be a riskier proposition than Fleming implies. The film will carry an R rating, while films catering to the family crowd tend to fare better over the holiday weekend.
