The 'Prisoners' actor is reportedly cast as a CEO who crosses paths with the gangsters who kidnap the titular robot for their own advantage.
- Sep 30, 2013
AceShowbiz - Hugh Jackman has been signed on to star in upcoming sci-fi movie "Chappie" from "District 9" and "Elysium" director Neill Blomkamp. "The Wolverine" actor confirmed it during a press conference at the Zurich Film Festival over the weekend.
"I am doing a role in Neill's new film, called Chappie, which we shoot in Johannesburg," he said at the event where he screened his new movie "Prisoners" and received the Golden Icon lifetime achievement award. "I'm there for a couple of weeks at the beginning of next year."
Based on Blomkamp's own 2004 short film "Tetra Vaal", "Chappie" revolves around a robot police officer who is stolen and reprogrammed by two gangsters for their own purposes. According to Bleeding Cool, Jackman will play "a CEO who ends up on the wrong side of the gangsters."
The robot will be voiced by Sharlto Copley ("The A-Team"), and the mobsters will be played by Ninja and Yolandi Visser, members of South African rap group Die Antwoord. Other cast include Jose Pablo Cantillo ("The Walking Dead") and Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire"). It eyes a March 27, 2015 release date.
During the chat at the film festival, Jackman also talked about other projects he had been linked to. Of "The Greatest Snowman on Earth", he said, "I thought it would stay in active development, if I'm honest, because new musicals are very difficult but just recently it's taken a real turn and there's some real momentum so watch this space."
The Australian star went on to say that he would "make a decision" on a possible Broadway project about Houdini in "about a month." When asked about "Unbound Captives", which he had long been rumored to star in, he said it was "another difficult project to get up."
"It's unusual for me to do so many films in a row but every one ... felt compelling to me and I begged her (wife Deborra-Lee Furness) and my kids and they were understanding to a certain degree," he said of juggling work and family.
Jackman will next be seen reprising his role as Wolverine in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" due May 23, 2014.
