James Franco’s damn dirty Apes will rise much sooner than expected

Looks like the Weta guys cranking out computer-generated primates are going to be clocking some overtime.

The prequel/reboot/thing RISE OF THE APES just got a bump to the summer months, as Fox has shifted the release from Thanksgiving back to August 5th (it was initially slotted for June before the studio knuckled it off to the holiday weekend). The movie will face competition from THE SMURFS and the Jason Bateman/Ryan Reynolds comedy THE CHANGE-UP on its new date.

Fox recently saw much of their new APES movie and was apparently pleased enough to plunk it back in the busy summer season. Although Fox’s quality control should be considered suspect, unless you happen to be a huge fan of DRAGONBALL, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, JUMPER, two ALIEN vs PREDATOR movies, THE HAPPENING, MAX PAYNE, STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI, or some of the other shit they’ve assaulted us with in the past decade.

The PLANET OF THE APES precursor stars James Franco as a scientist who monkeys around with genetic engineering, leading to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. The movie is directed by Rupert Wyatt (THE ESCAPIST) and also features Freida Pinto, Brian Cox and Andy “Gollum” Serkis going ape via motion-capture technology.