John Lithgow and Freida Pinto join the Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes

Late last week, we brought news that offers apparently went out to both War Machine Don Cheadle and Indian hottie Freida Pinto (YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) to star in Fox’s upcoming RISE OF THE APES, a prequel of sorts to the Charlton Heston classic PLANET OF THE APES. Well now THR’s Heat Vision blog is confirming that Pinto is indeed in the film, and joining her will be the marvelous John Lithgow (“Dexter”, KINSEY).

Pinto, as Mike speculated in last week’s report, will be playing the female lead opposite James Franco as a primatologist. Lithgow, meanwhile, will star as Franco’s Alzheimer’s-ridden father.

According to Heat Vision, the film “focuses on a scientist (Franco) who has been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s that is being tested on apes. The test subject named Caesar evolves rapidly, and the scientist takes him home to live with him and protects him from cruel doctors.”

RISE OF THE APES begins production this summer in British Columbia.