He blew us all away with his debut feature District 9, now Neill Blomkamp is set to do it all again with Elysium – his new sci-fi adventure – and we have the trailer to prove it.

Carrying on his love of dystopian themes, Elysium sees a future – the year 2159 to be precise – where the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ are literally worlds apart. Living on the eponymous Bel Air-inspired space station, the new upper class have a utopian lifestyle, where even cancer can be cured without leaving your living room. The rest exist on Earth, now an overpopulated, ruined planet – and a death sentence for many.

Naturally there are those who want to climb the social ladder. Enter Jodie Foster‘s Secretary Rhodes – a government official who “will stop at nothing” to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve Elysium citizens’ luxurious lifestyle.

However, Matt Damon‘s Max, a man “backed into a corner” as a result of cancer, suits up Iron Man-style to take on “a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds”.

Basically, he’s gonna huff and puff, and blow their house down.

Weta Workshop and Weta Digital worked on the conceptual designs, physical effects and VFX for the film, continuing their involvement with Blomkamp’s career.

Elysium opens here on 15 August. Get ready for an epic adventure:

Looks brilliant. District 9 on steroids – minus the “Prawns”.

The visuals are excellent – both the ruined Earth and the Halo-like Elysium are impressive – and in keeping with Blomkamp’s style.

The action we see looks superb. Unfortunately we only catch a glimpse of Secretary Rhodes’ chief enforcer, Kruger (played by District 9 star Sharto Copley) – looking ‘mean as’ though. I’m sure we’ll see much more of him in subsequent trailers.

The story as presented in the trailer is a little generic-sounding, but reports from those who’ve seen the extended preview footage (and the actors too) say it’s anything but.

Subsequent promo will help fill in Max’s backstory and how his exoskeleton will bring Elysium to its knees – although do I hope they hold a lot back.

Great trailer? You liking Damon’s new suit?

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 official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t 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.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp, the film stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Michael Shanks, Sharlto Copley, Talisa Soto, Ona Grauer, Carly Pope, Terry Chen, Wagner Moura, Johnny Cicco, and Faran Tahir.

Elysium open 15 August 2013.

Elysium Poster