Neill Blomkamp's District 9 follow up Elysium has been shrouded in secrecy ever since it was announced, but a little bit of that shroud just got lifted. Entertainment Weekly earlier this week granted us a first glimpse look at the lead character Max played by Matt Damon. The first thing that jumps to mind when seeing this is the realization that Damon looks pretty cool with a shaved head. Not surprisingly the image raises more questions than it answers. For starters Max is wielding a weapon of some kind called a Chem Rail, which seems to have a heavy enough kick that it requires a support mechanism for the users arm. He also seems to be rather uncomfortably disturbed if not outright frightened by whatever it is that he's aiming at. Whatever is giving Max the willies is frustratingly off camera. So far the only other information about the movie is a recently released synopsis which read:
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. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard line government of?cial, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesnt stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
Hopefully we'll learn more about Elysium (and what Matt Damon is looking at) next week, because Sony is including it in their 90 minute Comic Con presentation.