Brian Cox is in final negotiations to join the cast of the Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes.
Yes, this means the actor will join quite impressive cast that already includes James Franco, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis, but it also means that Cox will be reuniting with director Rupert Wyatt who he worked with on The Escapist.
Now that's something that already smells like some successful primate franchise…
Rise of the Apes is “an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.”
In other words, movie will follow “a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer's and testing it on apes. The potential cure causes the test subject ‘Caesar' to evolve rapidly and scientist must protect him from the doctors who want to harm the animal. Little does he know that trying to find a cure of Alzheimer's and protecting a defenseless ape will lead to the destruction of human civilization.”
So, Brian Cox has been cast as “the villainous owner of a primate sanctuary” who will inevitably be first up against the wall when the Ape uprising starts.
We already know that James Franco is set to play above mentioned scientist, John Lithgow will play Franco's Alzheimer's stricken father and motivation for finding a cure. Pinto will play a primatologist, while Andy Serkis is set to star as Ceaser, portraying chimp who leads the simian revolt.
Principal photography is set to begin on July 5th 2010, and Rise of the Apes has an announced release date of June 24th 2011.
We'll be back with every new detail about this prequel, so make sure you stay with us!
