We spoke to Sharlto Copley exclusively recently for our A-Team feature in the new issue of Empire, and when we asked him about his upcoming plans he spilled a few small but magic beans about the planned District 9 follow-up; specifically about the determination that he and director Neil Blomkamp have to ensure that it's not a typical sequel - and the possibility that it could be a prequel.

"Neil wants it and I want it. Neil's doing another film first. Then I think if everything goes according to plan we'll do the second film in about two years time. That story can go in so many different ways. There¹s a whole universe. I'm sure a lot of writers say that, but we actually have an entire universe.

"This thing started shooting in 2005, and before we shot the film we shot Alive In Joburg and two other shorts as part of Neil's creative development process. Those next two films actually had my character, Wikus, in them, although I wasn't called Wikus in them. So they were two parts of the development of the world and where the story was going to go and all that.

"There's a million ways you can go. Neil's actually very interested in prequels as well; he's said that a few times. We wouldn't do the traditional Hollywood version of the sequel which would just be 100 aliens fighting humans."

For more from Copley and the full lowdown on The A-Team, pick up the new issue of Empire.

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