IMAX Corporation along with TriStar Pictures and Media Rights Capital recently announced that “Elysium,” filmmaker Neill Blomkamp's (“District 9”) futuristic action film starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® format and released in IMAX® theatres worldwide.

In the Philippines, “Elysium” opens in IMAX theaters on Sept. 04, simultaneous with 2D and regular cinemas nationwide.

"Neill Blomkamp is the kind of innovative, creative storyteller that moviegoers seek out, and we are thrilled to bring this highly anticipated film to IMAX audiences worldwide," said Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment and Senior Executive Vice President IMAX Corp.

"`Elysium' is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer, so we're pleased that audiences will have the chance to see Neill Blomkamp's vision for the future in IMAX's immersive format," said Rory Bruer, president, Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures.

The IMAX release of Elysium will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Elysium

In the year 2154, 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 planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium's Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well. Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. The QED International / Alphacore Studios / Kinberg Genre production is produced by Bill Block, Neill Blomkamp, and Simon Kinberg.

“Elysium” is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Matt Damon takes on the lead role of Max in TriStar Pictures' futuristic action thriller “Elysium” whose socio-political message underneath the gripping action scenes isn't lost on the actor.

“I like to think it’s a hopeful message,” Damon says. “Even in a future where it’s every man for himself, it’ll be possible for a human being to hold on to his humanity.”

In the year 2154, 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 planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max, an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

At the center of the chaos on Earth, between the two worlds, is Max. “Max needs to get to Elysium to save himself, but in his desperation, he gets involved in a plot that makes him realize that the problem is much bigger than him,” says director Neill Blomkamp. “And he ends up fighting for something more than himself, fighting to save other people on Earth.”

“Max, like a lot of people on Earth, has always aspired to get to Elysium,” says Damon. “That was his dream. But he grew up. You get the idea that he’s been a petty criminal, but on an Earth where resources are so scarce that everybody’s hustling in some way, he’s just doing what he’s got to do to get by. He’s been beaten up by life and now, he’s resigned to his life on Earth. He doesn’t dream about Elysium anymore. But in the movie, he’s put in a position to become the only person who can change things.”

Max is an entirely different look for Damon – shaven, tattooed, muscle-bound. “Neill was very specific about every detail and how he wanted the character to look,” says Damon. “He provided us all with pictures of the characters. I don’t think anybody had ever done that for me before – literally handed me a picture of the character with his shirt off. So I went to my trainer and I said, ‘Make me look like that,’ and a great trainer can do that.”

Damon says that he was inspired to join the project by the chance to work with Blomkamp. “Like everybody, I saw `District 9,' and like everybody, I freaked out,” he says. “Neill jumped to the top of the list of people that I wanted to work with. So when I heard that he wanted to meet with me about his next movie, I met him for coffee. He pulled out a kind of graphic novel that he had designed himself that explained the whole world of Elysium. He’d designed it all, built it all already. He just needed us to help him bring it to life. And that was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Matt Damon has been honored for his work on both sides of the camera, most recently earning Academy Award®, Screen Actors Guild Award® and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of South African rugby hero Francois Pienaar in Clint Eastwood’s true-life drama “Invictus.” In addition, he also garnered dual Golden Globe Award nominations that year: one for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Invictus” and one for Best Actor for his starring role in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!” Earlier in his career, Damon won an Academy Award® for Best Screenplay and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Actor, both for his breakthrough feature “Good Will Hunting.”

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 04, “Elysium” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.

Double Academy Award-winner Jodie Foster stars opposite Matt Damon as Secretary Delacourt, the hardline official determined to protect Elysium for the wealthy, in Columbia Pictures' futuristic action thriller “Elysium,” a recent No. 1 box office hit in the U.S.

In the film, 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 planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

“As the Secretary of Defense, she sees it as her job to keep immigrants out of Elysium,” says Foster. “She sees Elysium as a utopia – what Earth could have been, but wasn’t. She’s finding herself handcuffed by a new, more liberal administration, but she’s 108 years old; she remembers when Earth was falling apart and why they created Elysium in the first place. She knows what will happen if you let everybody in – it’ll end up just like Earth. If you try to give Elysium to everybody, you’ll end up giving it to nobody.”

“I love the themes of this movie,” she says. “The richer have become richer and the poor have become poorer – that extends to everything from who gets to be healthy to who gets to have children, who gets to have a family and who gets to escape the poisoned environment. The chasm has become so enormous that, in the movie, it’s literally two different worlds.”

Foster's stunning performances as a rape survivor in “The Accused” and as Special Agent Clarice Starling in the hit thriller “The Silence of the Lambs” earned her two Academy Awards® for Best Actress and a reputation as one of the most critically acclaimed actresses of her generation.

As a child actor, her role in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1975) brought her to the audience’s attention and her powerful portrayal of a streetwise teenager in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) won her widespread critical praise and international attention. Foster appeared in a total of four films in 1976, “Bugsy Malone,” “Echoes of Summer,” “Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane” and “Taxi Driver,” which were all presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Alan Parker’s “Bugsy Malone” earned her an Italian Comedy Award.

In total, Foster has appeared in more than 40 films, including recent films “Carnage” for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; “Nim’s Island” with Gerard Butler; “The Brave One” for director Neil Jordan for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; “Inside Man” with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen; the box-office hit “Flightplan,” Jean Pierre Jeunet’s French language film, “A Very Long Engagement,” David Fincher’s box-office success, “Panic Room,” “Contact” for director Robert Zemeckis; “Nell” opposite Liam Neeson; the comedy “Maverick” opposite Mel Gibson and James Garner; and the romantic drama “Sommersby” opposite Richard Gere.

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 04, “Elysium” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.

Sharlto Copley (“The A-Team”) – director Neill Blomkamp’s childhood friend and the star of “District 9” – re-teams with the director to take on the pivotal and villainous role of Kruger, in TriStar Pictures' futuristic action thriller “Elysium.”

“He’s ex-Special Forces, now a gun-for-hire operative, a professional soldier who works on Earth for the elite of Elysium,” explains Blomkamp.

In the film, 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 planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

“Sharlto will always find a way to make things funny – even subconsciously,” says Blomkamp. “Even in the most extreme, dire situation, there’s a natural, sardonic humor that comes out of him. He never, ever plays it straight. I provide the parameters for the character, and he turns it into a magnetic performance, that, to me, is extremely satisfying to watch.”

Copley was able to draw on his unique experiences to create the character. “Kruger wasn’t written as a South African, but I saw a way to play him that way,” he says. “I drew on two South African stereotypes to try and create a unique character that you’ve never seen before. Firstly, for his accent and sarcastic humor I drew on these guys from ‘The South’ – a tough neighborhood south of Johannesburg. Secondly, for the military aspect, there was a unit in the South African Defense Force during the apartheid years called 3-2 Battalion. It was a notorious but highly respected battalion – they fought in Angola during the ‘Bush Wars,’ trying to stop the spread of Communism in Africa. Kruger’s beard, his PT shorts and his utterly lethal military ability was inspired by them.”

Sharlto Copley is a South African actor, producer and director who has produced and co-directed short films which have appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as commercials and music videos. He made his on screen debut as Wikus van de Merwe in the Oscar®-nominated science fiction film “District 9.” He is best known for his role of H.M. Murdock in the 2010 adaptation of Fox’s “The A-Team” for director Joe Carnahan.

Poised to have a breakout year, Copley also stars in several other upcoming films including Disney’s “Maleficent” (with Angelina Jolie) as the male lead.

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 04, “Elysium” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visitwww.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.