Hugh Jackman And Dev Patel Join Neill Blomkamp's CHAPPIE Which Stars Die Antwoord And Shartlo Copley

ScreenDaily has word from Hugh Jackman that the actor has a role in Neill Blomkamp's sci-fi comedy Chappie. The film set in South Africa focuses on android police officer (voiced by Sharlto Copley) stolen by gangsters (Die Antwoord) for their own means. Deadline adds that Jackman will play a rival of Dev Patel's (Newsroom, Slumdog Millionaire) character. Chappie is a feature vision of Blomkamp's short film Tetra Vaal.

“I am doing a role in Neill’s new film, called Chappie, which we shoot in Johannesburg. I’m there for a couple of weeks at the beginning of next year.”

Neill Blomkamp's Sci-Fi Comedy CHAPPIE Will Star Musicians Ninja And Yolandi Visser (Die Antwoord)

LATimes (via ThePlaylist) talked to writer/director Neill Blomkamp about his next original film Chappie. The sci-fi comedy is being described as a funny mix of Robocop and E.T. It will be shooting in South Africa, where Blomkamp is from and shot District 9. An interesting addition concerns the casting of the film which will see Die Antwoord playing the two human characters (gangsters who steal the robot with artificial intelligence for their own means). While Shatlo Copley will be the voicing the robot Chappie, who the film will be the focus of. Ninja and Yolandi Visser are best known as the shocking South African group Die Antwoord but have maintained a long standing relationship with Blomkamp. Ninja and Eminem were actually set at one point for the lead role in Elysium which would eventually go to Matt Damon.