4. Neill Blomkamp - Elysium
Science fiction has not lived a charmed life when it comes to the Oscars. Despite the genre's enthusiastic fanbase, the Academy has been disinclined to give it any credit beyond technical awards in fields such as special effects, but the one above-the-line branch that has shown some sympathy to the cause on occasion is the writers. As mentioned in the outset of this article, both Back to the Future and Brazil managed Original Screenplay nominations in 1985, and prior to that, such penultimate Sci-Fi classics as Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey also garnered enough support from Academy scribes to merit a nomination. The most recent example of Sci-Fi success with the Academy though is that of Neill Blomkamp's District 9. A surprise late-summer hit back in 2009, the film not only managed to be a smash at the box office, but perhaps more stunningly, also put on quite the show with the Academy, earning a total of four Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture nomination for the film and a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Mr. Blomkamp and his writing partner Terri Tatchell. Blomkamp, who at one time was in line to bring the world of Halo to the big screen before the finances on that film fell apart, is set to follow up his debut feature with a new film by the name of Elysium. The premise of the film is that in the year 2154, the extremely affluent have created a luxurious space station above Earth known as Elysium, while the majority of wretched souls endure a painful existence on the polluted and ruinous remnants of civilization down below. The status quo gets quite the jolt though when one individual (Matt Damon) takes it upon himself to equalize the existence between the worlds. With the film's not-so-subtle overtones to the Occupy Movement and their grievances against the "one-percent", the more liberal voters of the Academy's writers branch are likely to eat this script up. A bigger obstacle for the film though will come in its box office prospects. While District 9 proved quite the surprise hit among audiences a few years ago, that film's political subtext was not as obvious for non-astute American audiences unaware of South Africa's history and it will be interesting to see how Elysium's class warfare angle goes over with general audiences. If the film ends up bombing monetarily, voters who might be convinced to vote for the film's screenplay may lack the confidence to do so, which is why, in this humble prognosticators view, Elysium's Oscar chances largely depend on its reception with the public.