Sharlto Copley To Star In Neill Blomkamp's Sci-Fi Comedy Chappie

It's not too much to say that Sharlto Copley owes his entire acting career to writer/director Neill Blomkamp. The South African star had no aspirations of becoming an actor before the filmmaker put him in his 2006 short film Alive in Joburg and then made him the lead of 2009's District 9. Since his amazing debut, the actor has worked on a couple other projects, including Joe Carnahan's A-Team and the upcoming sci-fi thriller Europa Report, but this summer will once again be uniting with Blomkamp for Elysium. And their partnership won't be ending there.

Entertainment Weekly has learned that Blomkamp and Copley will once again team on Chappie, the director's third feature effort. Unlike their previous collaborations, this new film will apparently be much lighter, with the star describing it as "a science-fiction comedy." Plot details about the film are being kept under wraps at the moment, but Copley teased the magazine saying that it has "an unusual setting." Copley first suggested he had the lead in the new movie this weekend when he left a post on his Facebook wall simply reading, "is CHAPPIE."

Copley has some more big titles on the horizon as well. While Elysium will be in theaters this August, October will see the release of Spike Lee's Oldboy, which will see the actor star as the villain opposite Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen. He will also be featured with Angelina Jolie, Elle fanning, and Juno Temple in Robert Stromberg's Maleficent, though that film won't be out until July 2nd, 2014.