Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie Gets A Spring 2015 Release Date

By Rudie Obias | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Neill BlomkampOnly two weeks after the release of Elysium, director Neill Blomkamp is already preparing for his next film, Chappie. Blomkamp is taking a different route with Chappie, a science fiction comedy, but it stands to reason that the new film will still have Blomkamp’s talent for world building and sci-fi tech. Chappie will also reunite Blomkamp with his home country of South Africa and his writing partner Terri Tatchell (District 9). Last week, Sony gave Blomkamp the green light to make Chappie a reality, and now the studio has revealed that it will hit theaters in spring of 2015.

Chappie‘s 2015 release date puts it among an epic glut of amazing science fiction, comic book, and genre movies that will be delivered in 2015. Sony gave Chappie a release date of March 27, 2015, so it will go head-to-head with DreamWorks Animation’s spinoff The Penguins of Madagascar. Chappie will also be released three weeks after the Fantastic Four reboot from director Josh Trank (Chronicle).

Sony almost gave Chappie the same release date Elysium was originally slated for, March 1. Elysium was eventually pushed to August 9 in order to take advantage of the summer movie-going season. They also then pushed the RoboCop remake back to February 7, 2014.

2015 is shaping up to be a very good year at the movies, but it’s on the verge of becoming bloated. It seems impossible that every would-be blockbuster released in 2015 will make enough money to be profitable.

Chappie is set to re-team Blomkamp with one of his longtime collaborators, Sharlto Copley, who will play a robot with artificial intelligence. Rappers Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, members of the South African Zef counter-culture movement rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, will play two gangsters who steal the self-aware robot. Slumdog Millionaire actor Dev Petal is also rumored to appear in Chappie as the robot’s owner.

Neill Blomkamp described Chappie as “a fundamentally more simple story, a comedy, a heartfelt story, in a science fiction setting. And it’s fucking hilarious; it’s a really cool film. I can say that with confidence… It’s a smaller film, a more esoteric one.” He also described the science fiction comedy as a mix between RoboCop and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Blomkamp co-wrote Chappie with his writing partner and wife, Terri Tatchell, so maybe he can recapture some of the magic from District 9. Elysium, based on a script Blomkamp wrote on his own, was a less than stellar outing for the 33-year-old director.

Chappie will hit theaters everywhere on March 27, 2015.