Yes, District 9 is a theatrical hit, and now its 35-year old unknown lead Sharlto Copley is joining the Hollywood big leagues. Twentieth Century Fox confirms that the South African Copley will play the goofy oddball pilot H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdoch in Twentieth Century Fox’s remake of The A-Team from director Joe Carnahan. Also, joining the cast of Liam Neeson (Col. John “Hannibal” Smith), Bradley Cooper (Lt. Templeton “Face” Peck), and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (B.A. Baracas) is Jessica Biel who will portray an ex-flame of Faceman’s. Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson will also be featured as a CIA operative. While the premise of Carnahan’s A-Team will still center on four war vets wrongly convicted of a crime they didn’t commit, the tone will be less silly and more slick. Production has already begun on the Vancouver-based set with the high-octane actioner set to bow next June.
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Comments (1-30) of 73 Add your comment
I love Sharlto, and every struggling actor in America is currently jealous of this random South African editing guy who they would normally step over on a set. Sweet.
Wrongly convicted of a crime they didn’t commit? Who edits these articles ew? If they were wrongly convicted of the crime then they obviously didn’t commit it!
Guess you never saw the show. This particular phrase is in the original television shows opening.
Opening Narration: “In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.” I can still hear the narrator’s voice in my head, followed by the blaring of the show’s theme song. I hope they do this right because I loved the show.
You can be convicted of a crime you didn’t commit. Convicted does not mean guilty. You can even be executed for a crime you didn’t commit.
Am I the only one who remembers ‘The Mod Squad’ movie? Yeah … exactly.
Will,
We were posting at the same time and I came THISCLOSE to using “The Mod Squad” as my example. Glad you did.
But do you remember the Mission: Impossible movies?
The Mod Squad? Claire Daines, Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps are not exactly Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel. I like the Mission Impossible comparison better.
“The A-Team” won’t be “The A-Team” without the silly factor.
I don’t get this. Hollywood takes a drama like “Starsky and Hutch” (yes, in the 1970s it was quite serious) and turns it into a comedy and then takes a comedy-drama like “The A-Team” and makes it into a “slick” drama.
Sheesh.
I agree. The A-Team is pretty silly as it is. A little slicker is okay, but let’s not make it too slick.
Good point. Also, they’ll take a serious but not entirely humorless show like MIAMI VICE, grunge it up, and play it deadly serious to the point that it’s bereft of fun. I don’t mind a slightly more serious tone, but don’t forget the fun. No Michael Bay-style crapfests either, please.
This is a good point, Hannibal was a maverick commander, relying on luck and guile to get the job done. When has Liam Neeson ever portrayed a character with the kind of lightness we saw in George Peppard?
Part of the fun of the A-Team was it’s cheekiness. I mean you don’t have a character like Howling Mad Murdoch because you want to up the dramatic quotient. But don’t get me wrong- I don’t want it to be inane either like the Starsky & Hutch remake.
Good casting except for Biel, and I don’t yet know who Quentin Jackson is. He has some big shoes to fill. But the movie SHOULD have lots of funny stuff in it or it might just become another action flick of the month. Hopefully not.
“Rampage” Jackson is a UFC fighter who can kick ass, but can he act?
Do you think Mr T had a thespian’s ability?
I’ve had a couple of people tell me that Mr. T actually got his start in the tough man contests. Not exactly movie star training, but he’s done pretty good for himself.
Mr. T had done Rocky III when he got the A-Team job, so at least the producers were already aware of his acting ability.
Best of luck to him, he was brilliant in D.9!
I don’t even care if this will suck, it sounds awesome.
Seriously, Liam Neeson in the A-Team? I’m preordering my ticket right now.
Hopefully he won’t fill the role with the same kind of self loathing we saw in Qui Gon Jinn.
Love the Sharlto Copley casting! But why are they going to go screw it up and add Jessica Biel?
Uhm, what about the role of Amy???
Yay for Sharlto!! Loved him in D9, so glad he is getting big movies now. But what is this about making it less silly and more “slick”?! WTF, don’t ruin my beloved A-Team, Hollywood!
sweetness.i am all geeked up about Sharlto landing this MAJOR role.maybe that will make up for having 2 look @ Biel
Rampage is a HUGE personality – if anyone can step up to the task it’s him. This is a brilliant casting move.
awesome! he was amazing in d9!
this is horrible and unacceptable…
Jim Carey should be Murdock and there are better choices out there than Quinten Jackson for B.A…. All this casting says to me is that they didn’t want to spend money signing any big names.
Jim Carey? Are you serious? And Liam Neeson and Jessica Biel are pretty big names, though obviously not superstars. And if Jim Carey were cast in that role, he’d sabotage the movie with his “look at me!” antics.
I’ll wait until I see some more info and a reviews before passing judgement. Though I don’t think it’ll hold up to the original TV series.
What’s the point of an A-Team movie without the silly? Without the feel of the tv show, you may as well make a random Vietnam vet action movie and call it whatever you want without having to buy the rights to the original characters.
Jim Carrey? Please! Enough of these overexposed big names. This town needs new blood. We need more guys like Copley to come along and scare the crap out of these bloated overpaid stars.
It will still be silly. I dont like this choice for Murdock, everything about District 9 was bad. It gets the offical ‘F’ from me.
I’m disappointed. I was hoping they’d cast Sam Rockwell to play Howling Mad Murdoch. Poor casting choice.
Me too. I thought he was an obvious casting choice. A much better option than Jim Carrey would have been.
Sam Rockwell would have been perfect for the role. Loved him in Charles Angels.
There’s another actor I don’t get. I have never really liked Sam Rockwell in anything, and yet he gets the hype.
I pity the fool who remakes my show!
I LOL’ed.
I’m not usually a fan of TV to movie treatments, but this cast looks great, and the original premise of the show is feature film worthy. It would be great to see this one fleshed out as a serious feature tent-pole actioner.
What time period is this going to be set in? ‘Nam vets are in their 60s now!
Now there’s a question. Maybe they’ll have to update it and make them Gulf War veterans.
Am I the only one who thought District 9 stunk and this actor’s portrayal as whiny, unimaginative, and absolutely terrible? Watching District 9 took two hours from my life that I will never have back…absolutely stupid movie. Terrible acting. This A-Team movie will be another remake for the DVD racks.
yep, you’re the only one
Yes indeed you are the only one.
Yep, you are the only one.
yeah, you’re the only one.
Yes Julie, I’m afraid you are the only one…
Yes, Julie. It appears unanimous.
D9 sucked! Stupid script and bad acting. It was like one of those low budget Australian movies that pop up on late night TV. And the A-Team would be better with Chris Tucker as Murdoch and Mel Gibson as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith. Murdoch is supposed to be over the top crazy, not just a kooky nerd. Copley is like a foreign version of David Arquette. I don’t see Copley pulling off multiple personalities and imaginary friends. Either way the most important part is the relationship between BA and Murdoch. From the casting it looks like it’s gonna be another PG-13 stinker.
Yeah. I thought D9 would be stupid, but his performance was vulnerable and heartbreaking. I thought Copley did a remarkable job for a newbie.
Overall these are great casting choices, a similar mentality to the Star Trek reboot. I think the point of making it “slicker” is they’re trying to make a new franchise that can become its own thing… the old A-Team is a familiar brand but to just try and copy the old one would be a sort of one-note nostalgia fest and the joke would wear out really fast. I was actually wary of an A-Team remake until I started hearing the casting choices. Sharlto is perfect… like Murray from “Flight of the Concords” with a more dramatic edge. Liam Neeson is the closest thing to Harrison Ford of the 90’s that we have right now. Carnahan’s “Smoking Aces” wasn’t great, but he’s clearly talented. This could actually be good.
“Silly” was one of the best parts of the show.
“I want some trash bags!”
I remember that. The prison break with the lawn chair and the trashbags. That show was so fun.
Will the movie go like this? Some helpless soul asks the A-Team for help, Murdock gets out of the loony bin, B.A. is knocked out and put on a plane, Face dresses up as (enter profession here) and steals (enter item here that will help the team beat the bad guys), the team builds some contraption that shoots things, the bad guys are defeated and the formerly helpless soul wins. And of course, in the end they get away from Decker..
Wouldn’t be the A-Team without the formula.
Huge mistake! Huge mistake! Leave the show alone! This sucks!
I was quite ready to pre-judge an A-Team movie as unacceptable.
This casting news, however, is the best thing I’ve heard so far this week. This is going to be awesome! And hopefully more silly than the article suggests.
LOL next they’ll re-make Fantasy Island…are they really that desperate for movie ideas? Love the A Team show. No need to re-do it. How can you leave out the silly factor? I love it when a plan comes together.
I hear a “Love Boat” movie is in the works.
It’s not going to be the A-Team without Mr.T! I pity da fool wo thinks he can do the A-Team without Mr.T!
Here’s hoping there’s a cameo or three.