Matt Damon: Elysium reminds me of Avatar

Matt Damon said his “gutting” decision to turn down the starring role in ‘Avatar’ inspired him to star in ‘Elysium’.

The actor reluctantly declined James Cameron’s epic because he was committed to ‘Green Zone’, and said he didn’t want to miss out on working with another sci-fi visionary – ‘District 9’ director Neill Blomkamp - this time around.

['Elysium' tops US box office]

“I couldn’t do ‘Avatar’ scheduling wise, which just gutted me, because it was so interesting, to see a guy [James Cameron] who had such a spectacular vision,” he told Yahoo! Movies.

“I talked to Cameron about ‘Avatar’, and it was exactly the same as talking to Neill [Blomkamp] about this. [Cameron] had built a world literally by himself, and designed it down to the last blade of grass.”

“So when I spoke to Neill and he started talking about this stuff I thought ‘oh f**k I’m talking to Jim Cameron!’. It really was that feeling. So the movie became, much like I assume ‘Avatar’ was, about Neill getting 300-400 crew members together and letting him express this fully formed idea.”

In the futuristic ‘Elysium’, Damon plays Max, an ordinary factory worker who must break into the titular space station that houses earth’s wealthiest 1 per cent.  The rest of the population lives on a devastated earth.

To help Max dons an exo-skeleton 'Hulk Suit' that gives him super strength… but only in the movie. 

“[The suit] is supposed to enhance your strength right?” he said. “But it weighs so much, when you run, I was running really slow. Neill was like, ‘hey bro, cant you run a little faster?’ I’m like ‘I’m running as fast as I can! It doesn’t actually give me special powers!’”

Elysium is released in the UK on 21 August. Watch the trailer below.