'Slumdog Millionaire' actor Dev Patel is in talks to star in Canadian director Neill Blomkamp's new sci-fi thriller 'Chappie'

Patel is close to landing the lead role in the sci-fi thriller, which will be the director's follow-up to Matt Damon-starring blockbuster 'Elysium', said the Hollywood Reporter.

Details about the new film are shrouded in secrecy, but it's thought that the futuristic movie - which is based on a short film Blomkamp made in 2004, titled 'Tetra Vaal' - will take place in the slums of South Africa, where robotic police officers patrol the area.

Blomkamp wrote the script for the film and along with Terri Tatchell. Patel is up for the role of an impoverished young man in the city while regular Blomkamp collaborator Sharlto Copley will play one of the police robots.

'Elysium' is set in 2154 and centres on the wealth divide between a ravaged planet Earth and a fictional utopian metropolis called Elysium, which is home to the wealthiest members of the human population. 'Elysium' is out next month.