Elysium may have just hit theaters earlier this month, but director Neill Blomkamp is already about to start work on his next picture, Chappie, which has been set for release on March 27, 2015. The film will be about an intelligent robot that’s kidnapped by gangsters, who presumably then use it to facilitate criminal activities. Blomkamp’s recurring collaborator and the star of District 9, Sharlto Copley, will voice the robot, while two members of the eccentric South African rap group Die Antwoord, Ninja and Yolandi Visser, will play gangsters, giving the cast a marked eclectic edge.
‘Elysium’ director Neill Blomkamp returning in March 2015 with ‘Chappie’
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
Production on Chappie is expected to begin this fall. Though only a little is known about its plot so far, Blomkamp reveals in an interview with Den of Geek that the picture is “basically” based on Tetra Vaal, a short film that he made back in 2004 about a robotic police officer. And while Elysium may have faltered by not giving its characters the attention they deserved, Blomkamp tells Indiewire that Chappie will be much different. “It’s like a fundamentally more simple story, a comedy, a heartfelt story, in a science fiction setting,” Blomkamp says. “And it’s fucking hilarious, it’s a really cool film.”
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