Serkis Joins Apes Prequel As Caesar

When it was revealed to us that the apes in Rise of the Apes, the prequel to Planet of the Apes, would be handled via CG by Weta, the collective sigh from Apes fans could be heard across the internet. It seems though, that the best possible news for this outcome has been announced – Lord of the Rings and King Kong mo-cap star Andy Serkis will play the human-to-digital-to-ape lead of Caesar in the film.

A recent tweet from Fox exec Chris Petrikin read:

This is cool: Gollum reteams with Weta. Andy Serkis to star as Caesar in “Rise of the Apes,” portraying chimp who leads the simian revolt.

While I still would have preferred practical makeup effects and costumes to CG apes, I can certainly dig Serkis and Weta working together again and can’t wait to see him starting some simian riots next June.