20th Century Fox just sent over the above image of James Franco as Will Rodman, one of the scientists in Rise of the Apes, Fox’s reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise due in theaters this November.
Franco is joined by Freida Pinto and John Lithgow playing fellow genetic engineers who end up advancing the development of intelligence in apes to the point one of them, Caesar (Andy Serkis), leads a war for supremacy. Brian Cox, Don Cheadle, David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland) and Tom Felton (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) also star.
This first look is rather uninteresting considering the big draw here is said to be the photo-realistic apes rather than the costumed actors that played the apes in the original franchise. Oscar-winning VFX House WETA Digital (Avatar) is tackling the effects work with Serkis again playing to his motion capture strengths as he did in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and as he’ll do again in The Hobbit.
While this is considered a reboot, or as the studio says “an origin story in the truest sense of the term”, the simian character Caeser has been seen before as played by Roddy McDowall in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. I may have to revisit the entire franchise before seeing this one in theaters… that is if I can stomach the lot.
You can get a larger look at the image here if you are so inclined.
