Before he headlined The Martian, the highest-grossing hit of his career as a leading man, Matt Damon starred in another ambitious sci-fi film, Elysium. It was released only a couple of years before The Martian, but it ended up making less than half at the box office, and didn’t live up to the lofty expectations of critics. Everybody was pumped, primarily because Elysium marked the first major studio project for director Neill Blomkamp following his breakout hit, District 9, which earned a Best Picture nod at the Oscars. Featuring a star-studded supporting cast, Elysium dealt with themes of class conflict, immigration, and the environment, and was eventually criticized by Blomkamp himself for not meeting his standards. The movie is currently streaming on Netflix, but it isn’t available to every user.
It’s one of the 145 titles this month to have been blocked by the streamer for subscribers to its ad-supported tier. Released in 2013, Elysium grossed around $280 million at the global box office, against a reported budget of $115 million. It wasn’t a bomb by any means, but it didn’t exactly break out either. By comparison, The Martian made $630 million worldwide against a similar budget. Unlike that acclaimed film, Elysium earned mixed-to-positive reviews. It’s now sitting at a 64% critics’ score and a 58% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “After the heady sci-fi thrills of District 9, Elysium is a bit of a comedown for director Neill Blomkamp, but on its own terms, it delivers just often enough to satisfy.” The movie also featured Jodie Foster, Wagner Moura, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, and Sharlto Copley.
Neill Blomkamp Spent Several Years Developing an Alien Movie
In an interview with Uproxx in 2015, Blomkamp expressed some reservations about how the movie had turned out. “I just didn’t make a good enough film is ultimately what it is. I feel like I executed all of the stuff that could be executed, like costume and set design and special effects very well. But, ultimately, it was all resting on a somewhat not totally formed skeletal system, so the script just wasn’t there; the story wasn’t fully there,” he said. Blomkamp next directed the original sci-fi film Chappie, which underperformed as well. He spent several years developing an Alien movie which never materialized. His last film was Gran Turismo, which earned roughly a sixth of Brad Pitt’s F1. You can watch Elysium on Netflix, but only if you aren’t subscribed to the ad-supported tier.
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Release Date
August 9, 2013
Runtime
109 minutes