While it will wind up being a four year wait between “District 9” and “Elysium” when the latter picture drops this summer, Neill Blomkamp has not wasted much time prepping for his next film, the sci-fi comedy “Chappie.” While the recent news of South African rap duo Die Antwoord being cast as the leads in the film was certainly a surprise, this particular piece of news should come as no shock to anyone.
Sharlto Copley is officially on board for the film, firmly establishing himself as Blomkamp’s go-to guy. No details about who Copley will be playing as the entire project has been kept under wraps at this point, but he teased the news himself in a recent Facebook post. Other than a co-starring role in Joe Carnahan’s “The A-Team” remake back in 2010, we haven’t really seen much of Sharlto Copley outside of Blomkamp’s films. Luckily, that’s about to change in the next year or so. Other than “Elysium,” he has substantial roles in the upcoming “Oldboy” remake as well as next year’s “Maleficient.”
“Chappie” will start production this September. [EW]
