It took about $900 dollars for them to be let go

The new film from director Neil Blomkamp, "Elysium", tells the story of a future where the rich live in a satellite beyond Earth while others suffer and die in what remains of the Earth. The director said to Entertainment Weekly that his inspiration for the film was due to a trip he made to the city of Tijuana.

Blomkamp, director of "District 9", was filming a commercial in the city of San Diego when one of his friends, who also was part of the production team for the commercial, suggested on visiting the border town that night.

They rented a car and crossed the border into Mexico and headed to Avenida Revolution in Down Town Tijuana. Unfortunately they arrive in the early morning, so by this time many places stopped selling alcohol. They then decided to buy a couple of beers and placed them in brown paper bags. As they walked down the street, a federal police patrol car cut them off.

"They got out of the car, threw me onto the hood, cuffed me, took my passport, did the same to my friend and threw us into the back of the car. They weren't speaking to us; they just started driving us out of the city", Blomkamp said to EW.

Blomkamp had with him quite a bit of money from the commercial, so he just basically started handing them a few bills through the rear window of the patrol car.

According to Blomkamp, it took about $900 dollars that they gave the officers so that they would let them go, after being taken for a drive for about two hours.

"We were walking through these totally impoverished, insane areas with feral dogs and crying babies and people making fires, and on the horizon I could see the floodlights from the U.S. shining into Mexico, and there were multiple Black Hawks flying the perimeter, and it was like science fiction on Earth. Nothing has changed, but now you're on the other side of the border," said Blomkamp, who added that this "feeling", is what he wanted to achieve in his new film "Elysium".

"Elysium" stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster and will be released on August 9 in the U.S., and on August 23 in Mexico.

VIDEO: Preview of Elysium

Jorge.Guevara@sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@Sandiegored.com