Already with an impressive cast that includes James Franco, Don Cheadle, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis, RISE OF THE APES has added another talented actor to its roster. Brian Cox, who previously worked with director Rupert Wyatt on THE ESCAPIST, has signed on to play something of a villain. While he’s not a villain for our humans, he’s the owner of a wildlife sanctuary who runs said facility with a complete lack of compassion for the animals. One would guess this would come back to bite him in the ass (literally?).
The script for the film was written by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, which may mean that Scott Frank’s CAESAR, the basis of this story, may have been completely rewritten and his writing credit removed. I was hoping that APES would have some sort of presence at Comic-Con this year but Fox doesn’t have any Hall H time reserved to sneak out the cast (I suppose it’s possible to have a teaser banner up on the convention floor).
Filming on RISE OF THE APES is set to begin next month for a June 24, 2011 release date.