Chappie is a movie that Neill Blomkamp and his fans have been talking about for a long time. From early on it was rumoured to be based on his short film Tetra Vaal. When that was recently confirmed, fans got really excited, and rightfully so. With Blomkamp’s frequent collaborator Sharlto Copley voicing the robot and some other interesting cast members signed on, Chappie is already shaping up to be a great sci-fi comedy. Now, the film has added another excellent cast member in Hugh Jackman.
At a recent press conference for Prisoners, Jackman revealed that he has a role in Blomkamp’s next film.
“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.”
We still don’t have any details on the specifics of Jackman’s role, but it’s fairly safe to assume that if he’s only shooting for a couple weeks, it’s a relatively small one. Still, the addition of Jackman to any film is something that I can get excited about. He’s been great in just about everything recently, and there’s no way the film will be worse for having him appear.
For those who don’t know, Chappie tells the story of an artificial intelligence-fueled robot who is stolen by two gangsters with bad intentions. Other than that not a ton is known, but watching Tetra Vaal could give you a bit more to go off of, though just how much of Chappie is based on that short is still unknown.
Blomkamp is starting production on Chappie this fall and he’ll be working off a script which he co-wrote with District 9 co-writer Terri Tatchell. The film also stars Ninja and Yolandi Visser of Die Antwoord and Dev Patel.
What do you think of Jackman joining Chappie? Are you excited for this film? Head on down to the comments section to share your thoughts.