First Look: Matt Damon & Kristen Wiig In Alexander Payne’s ‘Downsizing’

Alexander Payne‘s upcoming “Downsizing” might be director’s most ambitious film to date, and it’s certainly his most expensive. The director, usually known for his small scale intimate dramas, wields an array of special effects for his new effort, which stars Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig who decide to go small. Literally.

” ‘Downsizing’ imagines what might happen if overpopulation and climate change [prompt] Norwegian scientists to discover how to shrink people down to five inches tall and propose, very earnestly, the population’s two-to-three-hundred-year transition from big to small,” the director told EW.

“[Screenwriter] Jim Taylor and his brother had been kicking around the idea for a while. They were thinking ‘oh, if you were only so big, you could have a huge house on a huge lot of only eight square feet!’ When Jim and I decided to do something with the idea, we saw it in more political terms…,” Payned continued. “I don’t want it to sound too much like a political movie. We’re more interested in making human films. Humans are involved in politics, so we thought this story was an interesting prism through which to view our times.”

It’s not only a fascinating premise, but one that be a big player during Oscar season. Paramount certainly hopes so, as they’re preparing to open the film on December 22nd.