14 DAY TRIAL // On August 9, director Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”) returns to the big screen with another feature film, this time with a bigger budget and considerable more hype: “Elysium,” starring Matt Damon. Had he had his way, Blomkamp would have gotten Eminem for the role.
In a new interview cited by the Huffington Post, the director says that he initially approached rapper Ninja (of the group Die Antwoord) for the part but, when he turned it down, he thought of Eminem.
Blomkamp says Em was very interested in doing the movie, which, he explains, was supposed to be a very low budget affair, but he did set a condition for his participation.
Eminem wanted the movie to shoot in Detroit, and Blomkamp was willing to accommodate him on that. Sadly, he and the studio could not bring the shooting there, so the rapper bowed out of the project.
Matt Damon was cast as lead in his place, and then everything about “Elysium” exploded, the budget included.