With filming on the A-Team movie due to start imminently, it’s getting more and more surprising that while we’ve known for quite a while who will be playing Faceman (Bradley Cooper) and Hannibal (Liam Neeson), there’s been no official announcement of who will be the other soldiers of fortune, B.A. Baracus and ‘Howling Mad’ Murdoch.
Earlier this week it became apparent that UFC fighter Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson would probably be playing Baracus, but this wasn’t because of what the studio had said, but because the Vancouver Sun had dug around and worked out what he was doing in Canada (where the movie is being filmed). Now Blackfilm.com is reporting that a reliable source has told them that the role of the nutty Murdoch has been offered to District 9’s breakout star, Sharlto Copley, although as of yet there’s no news if he’s accepted.
Copley will have to make up his mind fairly soon as the movie is just starting to film in Vancouver and they probably won’t be able to shoot much of the film without one of the main members of The A-Team. Copley is also a bit of unknown quantity. While very good in District 9, he’s not really an actor and only got the role in the sci-fi film because he’s an old friend of director Neill Blomkamp, and the fly-on-the-wall style of District 9 is very different than acting in a proper movie. However it may turn out to be an inspired move, assuming he really has been offered the role, and that he accepts, of course.
The re-imagining of the classic 80s action series, directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin’ Aces) and produced by Tony and Ridley Scott, is due in cinemas next July.