I POLICEMAN, HE ROBOT... McBRIDE JOINS WILL SMITH FOR SCI-FI

Boston Public' regular Chi McBride has joined the cast of the sci-fi all-actioner 'I, Robot'.

He'll be starring opposite Will Smith for director Alex Proyas and 20th Century Fox. Shooting is scheduled to start May 5 in Vancouver.

Inspired by the classic story collection by Isaac Asimov, 'Robot' is a futuristic thriller in which a detective (Smith) investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot. The catch being that the three prevailing laws of the robot society suggest that such a crime is impossible.

Bridget Moynahan and Alan Tudyk round out the cast. McBride will play the lieutenant boss of Smith's character who urges the detective to close the case to lessen any political fallout from the incident.

Laurence Mark and John Davis are producing with Wyck Godfrey and Topher Dow executive producing. 'Robot' was penned by Jeff Vintar, Hillary Seitz and Akiva Goldsman, the latter of whom wrote the most recent draft. TCF topper Hutch Parker is overseeing along with Emma Watts.

McBride is repped by UTA and manager Sam Maydew at Pop Art Management. His feature credits include 'Cradle 2 the Grave', 'Undercover Brother' and 'Narc'.