Has District 9's Sharlto Copley Been Offered A Seat In The A-Team Van?

Its only a rumour, but it's a heck of an eye-catching one: is District 9's Sharlto Copley in the frame for a star turn as Howlin' Mad Murdock in Matthew Carnahan's new A-Team movie? It would certainly be nice, wouldn't it? He landed with one heck of a splash in District 9 and already an awful lot of film lovers have taken him to their hearts.

As the start of principal photography draws near (or has maybe even already kicked off, depending on who you believe) I'm personally not entirely convinced we really know who will comprise the big-screen A-Team, though I'll swing with the rumours and announcements for now. The official casting notices so far have told us that Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson were 'in talks' to play Face and Hannibal respectively, an arrangement that is never entirely secure (see: The Wrestler, Green Hornet or anything else that Nic Cage and agent have squeaked out of over the last few years).

The new BA 'Bad Attitude' Baracus, as rumoured for over a year and now seen in town for the production, is alleged to be one Quinton Ramone 'Rampage' Jackson, UFC bone-cruncher. Interestingly, he was put in the frame by Blackfilm, the very same people to now bring us this Sharlto Copley rumour.

According to their report, the production has been looking at a wide array of names, some of which we've heard come up before: Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Timothy Olyphant, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Chris Pine and Robert Downey Jr.

Personally, I'd love to see Steve Buscemi have another crack at something more manic than his trademarked sad-sack turns. And while we know that Carrey and Downey can bring the crazy, they're clearly flying too high for a supporting role like this. Of the likely options, Copley seems like the best choice... the only issue being, he apparently hasn't said yes yet.