When you hire a 14-year-old kid to work at your production company, you don’t assume that that kid will launch you to a career of Hollywood stardom. But that’s exactly what happened to Sharlto Copley, who took on the young Neill Blomkamp sixteen years ago. He produced Blomkamp’s short film “Alive in Jo’burg,” and was rewarded with the lead role in his feature debut, “District 9.” That film became a sleeper hit, and picked up a Best Picture nomination last year, turning both director and star into hot properties.
While Blomkamp entertained offers around town and got to work on another original sci-fi project, Copley was almost immediately snapped up to play Howling Mad Murdock in “The A-Team,” making his franchise Hollywood debut. But it looks like he will be returning to aliens as a subject matter; according to the Hollywood Reporter, the actor is in talks to star in Dreamworks’ sci-fi actioner “I Am Number Four.”
The project, adapted from an upcoming young-adult novel series by Jobie Hughes and James Frey (wait til Oprah hears he made it all up…), follows a group of aliens who flee their homeworld for Earth after another species wipes their race out, and disguise themselves as high school kids. Copley will pay a former servant to the alien race, who now serves as the guardian and mentor to the title character Four, who was previously announced as being played by rising star Alex Pettyfer (“Wild Child,” the upcoming “Beastly”).
So, yeah, it sounds a bit like “3rd Rock From The Sun,” and the behind the scenes talent, if that’s the word you want to use, including director D.J. Caruso (“Eagle Eye”), producer Michael Bay and writers Al Gough & Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon”) don’t give us much reason for optimism. But Copley’s debut performance was a storming one, so he might at least do something more interesting with the role than a rent-a-mentor like Liam Neeson.